Exploring the Reality of Ouija Boards

[benzun_1999]

Is Ouija Board real?

 

[FZ+]

Well, I can tap on it, and it feels pretty real to me...

The whole thing relies on natural jerks of your limbs, coupled with a subconscious effect. You can't reproduce it if you jumble up the letters and close your eyes.

 

[Jonathan]

I have wondered that too. It seem to me that scientifically, no. And yet, my mom has many stories of how the spirits she communicated with using it made unbelievable predictions that came true. I don't think she'd want me sharing them though. Suffice it to say, it seems that it was always demons she talked to, and in addition to the few predictions being unbelievable, they were bizarre, irrelevant really, and completely impossible to fake, as near as I can tell.
Of course she could be leading me on, but she has told me about these experiences many times, and the stories never change and she is always very serious about it. The only thing to make me think that she's made it up is that it is possible, but there is nothing about the way she has acted to make me think she has, nor has she ever carried any other practicle joke for this long, in fact she hasn't done many.
Oh, BTW, our family does have a history of mental illness, but she nor anyone immediate to me have had any such problems.

 

[FZ+]

Nah. Its just a case of positive feedback, through a subconscious process. Reject the negatives, use the positives to reinforce your personal beliefs, which leads you to be even more subjective in interpreting the data and so on.

 

[Jonathan]

What are you talking about? If whenever you used a Ouiji board you ended up talking to demons, how many times do you think you'd do it before you quit forever? My guess is not many, so there are not many positives and negatives to be picking and choosing from. And let's not forget that though I don't want to tell you much, the predictions were just bizarre, not something you'd think up in a thousand years, and they came true. And yet, because of their bizarreness, they really had no bearing on real life and one would be tempted to ask the spirit why it would bother to predict something so stupid.
Also, I am insulted that you think my mother is so stupid as to selectivly believe things that support preheld veiws and then use it as proof. It occurs to me now that if she had had things her way, she would have made sure they didn't come true, because it was a validaition that, for ex, she really was talking to demon, which is really creepy. Who would selectivly remember events so as to scare the crap out of oneself? I have never heard of such an occurence being diagnosed by any psychologists, and I think it is because those who are sane don't do things like that.
Your obcessive cynicism drives me nuts!

 

[FZ+]

Wait, wait, I didn't mean any offense...
(a) The aura of mysticism definitely helps. You expect it to work, and so you do give some leverage to your beliefs. If you don't do it many times, then you have few negatives to weed out, but don't underestimate the power of the mind to play into vagueness.

(b) I absolutely do not mean to imply your mother is in any way stupid. I am hugely sorry if I gave that impression. I merely say that your mother is human.

Have you ever seen a horror movie? A good one, a subtle one... That is a demonstration of this principle. In such movies, the director plays on ambiguity to generate fears. The viewer may not want to use the horrible interpretation, but subconsciously is forced to. Since I enjoy a horror movie (now and then!), I am every bit as "stupid" as your mother is. This sort of effect goes even further. Google a bit for the controversy following the discovery that some methods of therapy for "repressed memory syndrome", may in fact implant false memories into the patient. This is particularly disturbing surrounding the incident of a loving father who was suggested into "remember" than he engaged in satanic rape and cannibalism rituals with his daughter.

 

[Phobos]

Originally posted by Jonathan
Also, I am insulted that you think my mother is so stupid as to selectivly believe things that support preheld veiws and then use it as proof.

As FZ+ noted, this is normal human nature. A person has to make an effort to try to see outside their own bias.

Have you watched her use the Ouija board? Does it look legitimate to you? Have her close her eyes and try it. Take notes. Run the statistics on the hits and misses. Any different than random chance?

 

[Jonathan]

I wasn't born yet, and I doubt I could get her near one now. So, I guess the consensus is no, not real, esp. given that I can't prove she's not had a good laugh about this behind my back, though I do really doubt it.

 

[benzun_1999]

ouja board are real.

I am sure that ouja boards are real and they work. I tell you the truth though i haven't used it i am sure it works and it is nothing but talking to devil.

your mom uses it, right. ask the board "who are you?"

the result is devil. I am telling this becayse someone else told this to me and i am sure that person is trust worthy.

to add up to this there are many cases of death where ouja board is involved.

-Benzun
all for God.

 

[Phobos]

Sites debunking the Ouija Board...

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mouija.html

http://skepdic.com/ouija.html

Note the references to "the ideomotor effect" and how people subconsciously spell the words out themselves, not any devil or demon.

As has been suggested, simply blindfolding the user can show that the Ouija board does not work.

 

[phoenixthoth]

they may be more related to dissociative and/or hypnotic states than external spirits.

 

[wasteofo2]

this was told to me by my friends mom:

When she was a kid, she got an ouija board. She got bored of it and threw it in the garbage one day. The day after she threw it away, it was back in her closet. She got scared and placed it in the garbage pale which is collected by the garbagemen and watched the bin be emptied into the truck, the next day the ouija board was back in her closet. She lit it on fire and watched it burn. The next day it was back in her closet, unburnt. Her parents always denied ahving anything to do with the ouija board reappearing.

So yeah, sounds fun...

 

[Jonathan]

benzun_1999: You obviously didn't read my last post...however, as the cynics have said, and am not surprised, I do know that she has before asked 'Where are you?' and obviously it said Hell. It occurs to me now that if the spirit/demon was really in Hell (and if it really exists), you'd think it'd be too preoccied by the torture/ing etc. to respond to messages asked froma Ouiji Board.
wasteofo2:(<hey, I just got that ) That's really weird, but I doubt it's validity, because of the lack of similar reports.

 

[wasteofo2]

Originally posted by Jonathan
That's really weird, but I doubt it's validity, because of the lack of similar reports.

You obviously haven't read Victor Cudross' studies on the molecular memory of state of being/state of surrounding found in certain rare species of oak found in south east vermont, which were highly used in production of Ouija boards in the 1970's, ignorant fool :P

 

[Jonathan]

You are joking with the ignorant fool part, aren't you? Is any of what you just said true? It doens' make sense to me that they'd allow a rare species of oak to be cut down to allow for the creation of a 'board game', and it doesn't make any sense to me that the 'properties' of this type of tree would cause a ouiji board to be indestructable and capable of self-relocation. Maybe her parents continually bought new ones to freak her out? That would be pretty funny...

 

[Bernardo]

The board is actually quite irrelevant, what's at stake here is the condition of your heart and the motives behind its use.

There are spirits, devils and so on, why take time out of your day to open your self up to them? Why make yourself vulnerable. No good spirit will ever be involved with this practice or any other, for the simple reason is that God wants you to trust Him, you know take a step of faith without all the facts. By using a board or any other occult like means you are really saying you don't trust Him. That's why devils love this kinda thing - its very seductive in its appearance of truth.

It acts like a cycle - at first it's a simple little thing that comes true then another then another and soon your hooked on the thing.

 

[wasteofo2]

Originally posted by Jonathan
You are joking with the ignorant fool part, aren't you? Is any of what you just said true? It doens' make sense to me that they'd allow a rare species of oak to be cut down to allow for the creation of a 'board game', and it doesn't make any sense to me that the 'properties' of this type of tree would cause a ouiji board to be indestructable and capable of self-relocation. Maybe her parents continually bought new ones to freak her out? That would be pretty funny...

The thing about that rare species of oak, is that it looks totally like your regular oak, and grows in the same forests. It also probabally doesn't make any sense to a bunch of botanists that some wacky physicists think that everything that happens has infinite possible outcomes and an infinite amount of parallel realities are created playing out each outcome...

 

[benzun_1999]

Originally posted by Bernardo
The board is actually quite irrelevant, what's at stake here is the condition of your heart and the motives behind its use.

There are spirits, devils and so on, why take time out of your day to open your self up to them? Why make yourself vulnerable. No good spirit will ever be involved with this practice or any other, for the simple reason is that God wants you to trust Him, you know take a step of faith without all the facts. By using a board or any other occult like means you are really saying you don't trust Him. That's why devils love this kinda thing - its very seductive in its appearance of truth.

It acts like a cycle - at first it's a simple little thing that comes true then another then another and soon your hooked on the thing.

i accept this.

At first it is very cool and harmless. as time passes, as you get hooked to it turns into a your leader, God and everything.

The problem begins when you realize it is wrong and get rid of it.
When You lack faith in God and are trying to get rid of it, it changes into a demon and trys to harm you going to the extend of killing you.

this is true.

-benzun
All For God.

 

[benzun_1999]

Originally posted by Jonathan
benzun_1999: You obviously didn't read my last post...however, as the cynics have said, and am not surprised, I do know that she has before asked 'Where are you?' and obviously it said Hell. It occurs to me now that if the spirit/demon was really in Hell (and if it really exists), you'd think it'd be too preoccied by the torture/ing etc. to respond to messages asked froma Ouiji Board.
wasteofo2:(<hey, I just got that ) That's really weird, but I doubt it's validity, because of the lack of similar reports.

I support wasteofo2. I do not doubt its validity because i have heard many similar things such as this.

The fact that many havn't heard such reports is because a very few survive such events. Many become insane because of Ouja board.

 

[wasteofo2]

Originally posted by benzun_1999
I support wasteofo2. I do not doubt its validity because i have heard many similar things such as this.

The fact that many havn't heard such reports is because a very few survive such events. Many become insane because of Ouja board.

None survive the wrath of a wooden plank!

And by the way, I was just recounting what my friends mom has said, not saying I nessicarily believe her.

 

[Bernardo]

Found this on the history of the board.

Remember the issue here isn't the piece of wood - it's just wood. You could make one out of lasagna noodles and alphabet soup.

It's the opening yourself up that's the danger not the wood. So much of this is just urban legend anyway - but all legends come from something (less dramatic but still signifigant).

At least you could just eat my board if it got weird.


my 1st attemt at hyperlink - hope it worked

http://www.prairieghosts.com/ouija.html

 

[Jonathan]

Yo've either got to put [ url]www.something.com[ /url] (without the spaces) or select "Automatically parse urls" in the options section below the body of your post before you finish posting. Here:
http://www.prairieghosts.com/ouija.html

 

[Zero]

Originally posted by benzun_1999
Is Ouija Board real?

No.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Originally posted by Jonathan Oh, BTW, our family does have a history of mental illness, but she nor anyone immediate to me have had any such problems.

I'll bet the mental illness is a misdiagnosis and that your family actually has an undiagnosed history of complex partial seizures.

 

[Jonathan]

I hope you're joking, because I meant to write 'doesn't'. Dang it, did I write it that way, or did you quote it that way for a joke...ah cheese I bet I did...

 

[Jonathan]

I did! :P

 

[zoobyshoe]

Originally posted by wasteofo2
You obviously haven't read Victor Cudross' studies on the molecular memory of state of being/state of surrounding found in certain rare species of oak found in south east vermont, which were highly used in production of Ouija boards in the 1970's, ignorant fool :P

Actually, I'm quite familiar with this work and what he says about the oak would in no way account for the story you were told. What the wood of these oak trees always seek to do is to return to the forest whence they came. Therefore what must actually have happened is that the ouija board kept trying to escape the house via the garbage, and she had to retrieve it. Eventually the board must have tried to commit suicide by jumping into a fireplace. These things always get garbled in the retelling.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Originally posted by Jonathan
I did! :P

And you meant to, but now you're thinking "Oh oh, too much information."

Doesn't matter because like I said, I'm pretty sure it's a misdiagnosis.

 

[wasteofo2]

Originally posted by zoobyshoe
Actually, I'm quite familiar with this work and what he says about the oak would in no way account for the story you were told. What the wood of these oak trees always seek to do is to return to the forest whence they came. Therefore what must actually have happened is that the ouija board kept trying to escape the house via the garbage, and she had to retrieve it. Eventually the board must have tried to commit suicide by jumping into a fireplace. These things always get garbled in the retelling.

Nope, she kept putting it in the garbage can and she burnt it.
Only thing i can think of is that her closet was closer to the woods than teh garbage can was and that it led there some way through a hole in the floor or something.

 

[Jonathan]

First of all, you must post a link explaining why any wood would move of it's own accord to get back to the original forest, which sounds patently absurd.
Second of all, zoobyshoe, you can't know what I meant to say you are not in my head. And no, not a Freudian slip, Freud was nuts himself, all his theories are nonsense.

 

[Zero]

Originally posted by wasteofo2
Nope, she kept putting it in the garbage can and she burnt it.
Only thing i can think of is that her closet was closer to the woods than teh garbage can was and that it led there some way through a hole in the floor or something.

You may want to come join us folks in reality...wood doesn't do that.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Originally posted by wasteofo2
Nope, she kept putting it in the garbage can and she burnt it.
Only thing i can think of is that her closet was closer to the woods than teh garbage can was and that it led there some way through a hole in the floor or something.

You're completely ignoring Cudross, chapter 7, where he reports no fewer than 4 ouija boards attempting to commit suicide by jumping into firplaces when they couldn't get back to Vermont for one reason or another. I'm sure this woman told you what she believed to be the truth, but it is at odds with what Cudross says about this interesting species of oak, and who knows it better than him?

 

[Jonathan]

Well, I'd say that even Zero knows better than him. Wood doesn't move by itself. I can't believe I even have to say it.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Originally posted by Jonathan
First of all, you must post a link explaining why any wood would move of it's own accord to get back to the original forest, which sounds patently absurd.

This isn't any old wood. This is ouija board wood. Demons speak through it. You think it's a stretch from there for it to be hopping trains back to Vermont?

Second of all, zoobyshoe, you can't know what I meant to say you are not in my head.

A ouija board told me what you meant.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Johnathan, I hope you realize we're just yanking your chain.