ouija board

baglady

Hey,
This post should be ok here right? It's not to do with any religion in particular and not really spirituality so...hope it's alright here.
just wonderin if any of ye ever played this and did anything happen? like seriously. I don't ever want to play it myself I'm just kinda curious about it!

AlmightyCushion

Moved from After Hours.

eVeNtInE

This post has been deleted.

LCDeelite

baglady wrote: »

.. just wonderin if any of ye ever played this and did anything happen? like seriously. I don't ever want to play it myself I'm just kinda curious about it!

I gave it a go a couple of times on my own about 7 years ago or more. I didn't have an actual board, though. I just tore up squares of paper, wrote the alphabet and numbers 1-9 on the squares, arranged them in a circle and then put a glass in its centre.

Absolutely nothing happened on each occasion. I might have believed at the time that there was an 'intensity' in the air, but I think that was just b0llocks now.

At the same time, I think I'd notice if something unusual was about, you know? You don't necessarily have to be some sort of medium or psychic (joining a much more miniscule minority than most currently believe, I might add), to notice weird changes in a room. To all of our credit, we have good, old-fashioned human instinct on our side.

Before I started the thing, I was in a normal frame of mind. Also, I just said a few Hail Marys and I asked for God's protection beforehand. I might have been more-or-less a kid, but I was aware of possible negative outcomes nevertheless..

The glass never moved at all throughout each attempt, nothing in the living room (where I was doing the whole thing) moved, and there were no unexplainable sounds. In essence, F*CK ALL. I'll add that I later wasn't in any horrific car accidents, or otherwise, afterwards. Additionally, I didn't go mad (although I happened to be anorexic at the time- another, completely separate story altogether), and no-one close to me dropped dead either. Grand.

Having said that, I wouldn't bother with the thing if I were you either (if you haven't already). Simply because there have never been any reports of people gaining anything or anything positive, for that matter, out of using them. Try something benign and harmless like palmistry, astrology, or Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) instead. There are loads of books on those (as opposed to the f*ckin' ouija board- quelle surprise), and you'd probably gain something somewhat useful from those anyway.

My cousin told me a story once about the ouija board.. She insisted it was true because she knew/knows the family of the dead girl personally.

She said that her friend's older sister had used an ouija board with some other friends (that would have been back in the early 90s). When the girl asked how she would die, the glass moved to spell out the letters B-U-S, 'bus' (duh!). So she was like, "Right, I'll get hit by a bus so. Whatever."..

The next day, while she was at home, she walked out on to the landing on which her little brother was playing with his dinkies. As she went to move past him, she tripped on his little toy bus, fell down the stairs, instantly broke her neck, and died. Her other friends escaped personal tragedy, BTW. But that story always gives me the heeby-jeebies whenever I think of it. Even now, as I was just typing it, I felt shivers up my spine and my eyes watering a little.

My neighbour from when I was growing up also once told me her own personal experience with using an ouija board. She played it with 3 guys (who I know/knew) - Kian, Bernard and Owen - when they were about 14 y.o. They're all in their late 20s now, bar one of them... She swore on her life to me that the glass moved by itself, and she's not one to bullsh1t or exaggerate..

She says to this day that whatever they contacted 'predicted' a serious car accident Bernard later had (it even specified the year- '1999'), Kian's brother Richie being hit by a car 4 months later and (most shockingly of all) Owen's own death when he was 26 (12 years later- spelling out the word 'boat' and the number '26' at the time). Mairead was the only one who didn't receive a message. They were initially freaked out by the experience, but soon put it to the back of their minds..

Needless to say, Bernard went on to have a serious car crash in 1999 (had several broken bones and fractures but, thankfully, he recovered), and Kian's brother Richie was hit by a car when crossing the road outside his house 4 months later (but he emerged virtually unscathed). As for poor Owen.. I swear to f*cking God this is true. Owen died in October 2006 (he would have turned 27 in Jan '07) when he fell from a boat off the coast of Thailand, drowning to death (as revealed by the post-mortem). He had been travelling the world on his own for several months, with his travels culminating in Australia before returning to Ireland.

There were no witnesses to him falling from the boat and his absence was only noticed over a week later; uncharacteristically, he hadn't contacted his family back home, who then raised the alarm. His body was found in the sea a couple of weeks after he had fallen overboard and his family had to pay thousands of Euros (but with the help of local, generous fundraising) to fly his body home to Ireland. It was awful. F*cking awful.

Irrespective of my own experiences and those of others, Mairead is adamant that people should have sense to stay the f*ck away from using the things. When I asked this medium I know before about the possible implications of using them even if you noticed nothing, she said that something always happens- even if you don't notice it at the time. She said that it opens a gateway that allows negative, disincarnate (e.g. they were never living on earth at any time) entities to enter your life. That's IF you have failed to protect yourself adequately, are/were drunk, very mentally impressionable, or inexperienced with the paranormal. Her advice was simple- just don't use them.

Well, I feel fine and in control of myself and my life so I'm not too bothered. Plus, I had said a few prayers afterwards as well, which I think may have helped. But I won't (and haven't gone) go near one of them ever again.

There's a lot beyond this three-dimensional reality we call life of which we don't have a f*cking clue- probably for good reason, too.

MooseJam

I gave it a go a few years back, got contacted by some chap named Harold, strange experience

baglady

thanks LC that was very interesting. I don;t think I wold ever have the guts to try it out, I would be too scared of bad things happening, but all the same I am interested in other peoples experiences. Moosejam, was it scary????

Supermanscat

I love the way lots and lots of people are very skeptical about ghosts, spirits etc yet if you asked them to use a ouija board with you they wouldn't do it for a million euro!

6th

Supermanscat wrote: »

I love the way lots and lots of people are very skeptical about ghosts, spirits etc yet if you asked them to use a ouija board with you they wouldn't do it for a million euro!

Even if ghosts arent real or you dont believe in them the possible psychological effects of using a ouija board are very real. For some people its not worth either the risk or the effort.

Supermanscat

Exactly! Me and my friend were having a discussion about ghosts, spirits and all that and he cut across and told me that it was all a load of bullsh1t! To which i then replied well if you think this use a ouija with me. I dont actually have one but he doesnt know that. Anyway he looked shocked and said not a chance.

jus further proof that people are afraid to admit beleif to ghosts and other spirits.

Skeptic_Desu

I'd jump at a chance to use a Ouija board.
There's no adverse effects from one so I wouldn't see a problem.

Oryx

Skeptic_Desu wrote: »

I'd jump at a chance to use a Ouija board.
There's no adverse effects from one so I wouldn't see a problem.

You havent tried one up to now?

Dave!

I did it a couple of times when I was younger. One of the times we all let go because we thought one of the lads was moving it himself (and it turns out he was), the other time nothing happened. Turns out my old bedroom is not haunted.

Skeptic_Desu

Oryx wrote: »

You havent tried one up to now?

Nope just never had the chance.
Heard all the stories though.

Oryx

Skeptic_Desu wrote: »

Nope just never had the chance.

Lack of real inclination or interest?:)

Skeptic_Desu

Oryx wrote: »

Lack of real inclination or interest?:)

Inclination I guess.
Never actively went looking for one before and the whole "let's try a ouija board on this spooky night" situation never came up with friends or anything.

Supermanscat

Skeptic_Desu wrote: »

I'd jump at a chance to use a Ouija board.
There's no adverse effects from one so I wouldn't see a problem.

And plenty people think like you!! If you dont have a problem why don't you track one down and perform it in somewhere that is known for paranormal activity?

Let us know how you get on!

Skeptic_Desu

Supermanscat wrote: »

And plenty people think like you!! If you dont have a problem why don't you track one down and perform it in somewhere that is known for paranormal activity?

Let us know how you get on!

If I ever get around to it, I'll let you know.

Where does one actually get a ouija board anyway?

Oryx

Skeptic_Desu wrote: »

If I ever get around to it, I'll let you know.

Where does one actually get a ouija board anyway?

You dont have to 'get' one. Theres not much to one.

Still, not recommending you do.:)

Skeptic_Desu

Oryx wrote: »

You dont have to 'get' one. Theres not much to one.

Still, not recommending you do.:)

Why? No-one has ever died from ouija boards.

Oryx

Skeptic_Desu wrote: »

Why? No-one has ever died from ouija boards.

I'm not getting into that discussion. If you want reasons, plenty are given here, and in the other threads. You may disagree or think its nonsense, and that is your perogative. I just said it as a disclaimer, I never recommend them.:)

Skeptic_Desu

Oryx wrote: »

I'm not getting into that discussion. If you want reasons, plenty are given here, and in the other threads. You may disagree or think its nonsense, and that is your perogative. I just said it as a disclaimer, I never recommend them.:)

Yes I do disagree and think it's nonsense.
Those warnings are noting but hearsay and exaggeration.
There is no danger in ouija boards in the slightest.

MooseJam

you could invite a malevolent spirit and end up getting possessed, I'd say thats dangerous no ?

Skeptic_Desu

MooseJam wrote: »

you could invite a malevolent spirit and end up getting possessed, I'd say thats dangerous no ?

If malevolent spirits existed and were inevitable, then yea I guess it would be.
But i guess it give me something to try.

monkeyfudge

Skeptic_Desu wrote: »

Yes I do disagree and think it's nonsense.
Those warnings are noting but hearsay and exaggeration.
There is no danger in ouija boards in the slightest.

The board itself is harmless but the human mind is very dangerous. Due to the reputation that Ouija Boards a person can do a lot of damage to themselves if they consider what is happening to be real.

???

Oooh ooh. Maybe I could use a ouija board, get possessed by a malevolent spirit and kill this guy I hate. The judge would totally let me off, it wasn't me like. Everyone knows there's all sorts of proof of malevolent spirits possessing people who use ouija boards.

Larianne

monkeyfudge wrote: »

The board itself is harmless but the human mind is very dangerous. Due to the reputation that Ouija Boards a person can do a lot of damage to themselves if they consider what is happening to be real.

Yes I agree with this. Its not worth the hassle.

???

I'd have thought the board was more dangerous? You could do some serious damage if you hit someone with one!

Skeptic_Desu

monkeyfudge wrote: »

The board itself is harmless but the human mind is very dangerous. Due to the reputation that Ouija Boards a person can do a lot of damage to themselves if they consider what is happening to be real.

Yes and seeing as I do not consider the ouija board is real (as in supernatural) the worst that will happen is I'll look like a bit of an ass with a board and a few candles.

monkeyfudge

Skeptic_Desu wrote: »

Yes and seeing as I do not consider the ouija board is real (as in supernatural) the worst that will happen is I'll look like a bit of an ass with a board and a few candles.

Yep. Exactly. I'm a firm believer in the ideomotor effect myself. I've even got a board from Parker Brothers sitting here in my office and I have no problem in using it. (It's a glow in the dark one too.. awesome!)

It can only be harmful if you convince yourself you're actually speaking to dead people as I believe it can act as a mild form of self hypnosis in that case.

Skeptic_Desu

monkeyfudge wrote: »

Yep. Exactly. I'm a firm believer in the ideomotor effect myself. I've even got a board from Parker Brothers sitting here in my office and I have no problem in using it. (It's a glow in the dark one too.. awesome!)

It can only be harmful if you convince yourself you're actually speaking to dead people as I believe it can act as a mild form of self hypnosis in that case.

I wouldn't go as far as saying it's self hypnosis buit yea thats pretty much it.
People simply connect the next bad thing to happen to them to the malevolent spirit from the ouija board. Exaggeration and the natural state of passed on anecdotes take care of the rest.

monkeyfudge

Well in order for it to work properly you are operating the board on a sub conscious level and in doing so opening up a channel to your own sub conscious mind in the same way that hypnosis would.

Anyway... I wouldn't recommend a Ouija board on the basis that it's time that could be spent playing Hungry Hungry Hippos instead.

Skeptic_Desu

monkeyfudge wrote: »

Well in order for it to work properly you are operating the board on a sub conscious level and in doing so opening up a channel to your own sub conscious mind in the same way that hypnosis would.

Anyway... I wouldn't recommend a Ouija board on the basis that it's time that could be spent playing Hungry Hungry Hippos instead.

Always been more of a Mouse Trap man myself.
Hypnosis is a very tricky subject that is perhaps deserving of it's own thread.

LCDeelite

Skeptic_Desu wrote: »

If I ever get around to it, I'll let you know.

Where does one actually get a ouija board anyway?

You don't need to go out to a shop and get THE OFFICIAL ouija board- you can either get a friggin' game of Scrabble or tear up bits of paper writing the letters and numbers on them, with a glass in the centre. It's very straightforward, in fairness.

People here seem to think that it's the board itself and such that's what causes malevolent events. Like MonkeyFudge was saying, it's more of a psychological manipulator than anything of a metaphysical nature.

Having said that, I'm still very creeped out by the VERY REAL stories my cousin and neighbour (particularly my neighbour's one) told me. Mairead had told my sister *years* before Owen had died about how the 3 of them had used the ouija board and that that information had came through as well. It's f*ckin' freaky.

Whatever about ouija boards in themselves, I seriously believe there is something intangible - yet real - 'out there'. I have had that belief either substantiated by my own experiences or those of others.

LCDeelite

monkeyfudge wrote: »

Well in order for it to work properly you are operating the board on a sub conscious level and in doing so opening up a channel to your own sub conscious mind in the same way that hypnosis would.

I fully agree with that. The human mind is a potential mindfield if the power of suggestion gets out of hand. There's usually trauma to some extent or another buried in most people's psyches. Playing around with sort of paranormal tools like the ouija board can tip an already psychologically fragile person over the edge. Some people are better off sticking to experiencing very mundane, banal everyday life experiences- for the sake of their own mental health.

Does anyone remember how that ex-Boyzone fella Shane Lynch went a tad loo-la a few years back? It wasn't loo-la in a highly public, Britney-esque way, BTW. He later said that he had been messing around with ouija boards, voodoo, trying to summon spirits and that he opened a door (figuratively) that took him quite a bit of effort to close again. He said he opened himself up to a lot of negative sh1te and that he was relieved to leave it all behind.

I don't know of the absolute specifics of all that, but he seemed genuinely freaked out by whatever he came across (either perceived by him or something that was very real). Well, it's kinda interesting all the same..

Dave!

Interesting... sure...

He's a Born Again Christian now FYI

Ghost Girl

Interesting thread!
What ever the deal is with the Ouija board, I just wouldn't go near it, Be it the human mind, a psychological thing, or spirits etc etc, it doesn't matter, if like the earlier poster said it showed a trail of destruction which was supposedly predicted through playing the god dam thing, why would you go near one? as one person said earlier, its always negative stuff, never positive happenings, so why would you get involved just to see if the negative happens to you or your friends playing it??

When I was in secondary school, I'd heard about them, and some girls drew one on the back of one of the school desks and during breaks or free classes a group of them would get together, about 8 main players, and 20 on lookers, i was asked to play but refused, and just listened to what was going on. Any way, the game took off and the same girls got hooked and were asking questions and supposedly getting answers over the period of a week, but they'd be screaming running away, and coming back, they got to the stage where they asked some thing along the lines of who would die first, and it supposedly gave the initials of one of the girls. This was before the summer holidays, and that girl was killed in a road crash during summer. Her junior cert results were waiting for her at the college at the end of summer, and I remember you could hear a pin drop when the stupid teacher read out her name to collect the results, and became extremely embarassed when she realised what she did! any way, point is every one remembered that ouija game, and whether it was coinsodence or not, no one will forget it. I used one on paper once by myself, and yes that night some thing negative happened my family ~(nothing life threatening) but lets just say, it was totally out of character for my family, and i immediately put it down to me messing with it earlier that day. Now that could be coinsodence, but I tore the dam thing up, threw it in a bin in school at the time, and guess what - and im not bull sh1tting here - it reappeared back together again in pieces in one of the class rooms. Ok one of the students may have done it, but i tore it to many many small pieces. They did one dam good job putting it back together again, if that was the case! so that was the end of my ouija board thingy.

LCDeelite

Dave! wrote: »

Interesting... sure...

Are you taking the p1ss out of my remark that Shane Lynch's loony tales seemed "interesting"? That's very boring of you.

He's a Born Again Christian now FYI

Yes, I know.

LCDeelite

Dave! wrote: »

He's a Born Again Christian now FYI

I have known that fact since it first came to light.

I don't want someone who uses the most boring name ever invented as their boards.ie username to tell me what I already know.

You're boring.

monkeyfudge

LCDeelite wrote: »

I don't want someone who uses the most boring name ever invented as their boards.ie username to tell me what I already know.

Hey... the added exclamation mark makes it exciting.

???

Personal abuse? Seen people banned for less...

6th

And LCD has been banned too ... fair mods around these parts.

LCDeelite

6th wrote: »

And LCD has been banned too ... fair mods around these parts.

"Fair mods"? Well, what the f*ck is that supposed to mean??? :mad:

Dave!

I thought he was banned...???

Stoner

Dave! wrote: »

Interesting... sure...

He's a Born Again Christian now FYI

Monkeyfudge is now officially a Born Again Psychic FYI

ChocolateSauce

It's down to the well-documented ideomotor effect, not because of spirits or any other such nonsense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideomotor_effect

The ideomotor effect is a psychological phenomenon wherein a subject makes motions unconsciously. As in reflexive responses to pain, the body sometimes reacts reflexively to ideas alone without the person consciously deciding to take action. For instance, tears are produced by the body unconsciously in reaction to the emotion of sadness, usually without any intervention of conscious will.


Stage hypnotists exploit the ideomotor effect for entertainment value, convincing volunteers to perform some action without consciously deciding to do so. The volunteers usually have no memory of their performance, much like sleepwalkers who are unaware that they are acting on stimulus existing almost entirely in their own minds More subtle unconscious physical reactions are often used by magicians and illusionists to perform "mind-reading" tricks.


Automatic writing, dowsing, facilitated communication, and Ouija boards have also been attributed to the effect of this phenomenon. Mystics have often attributed this motion to paranormal or supernatural force. Many subjects are unconvinced that their actions are originating solely from within themselves.


The term was first used in a paper discussing the means through which the Ouija board produced its results, by William Benjamin Carpenter in 1852. In the paper, Carpenter explained his theory that muscular movement can be independent of conscious desires or emotions.


Scientific tests by the English scientist Michael Faraday, the French chemist Michel Eugène Chevreul, and the American psychologists William James and Ray Hyman have demonstrated that many phenomena attributed to spiritual or paranormal forces, or to mysterious "energies," are actually due to ideomotor action. Furthermore, these tests demonstrate that "honest, intelligent people can unconsciously engage in muscular activity that is consistent with their expectations" (Hyman 1999).[1] They also show that suggestions that can guide behavior can be given by subtle clues (Hyman 1977).


Some alternative medicine practitioners claim they can use the ideomotor effect to communicate with a patient's unconsciousness using a system of physical signals (such as finger movements) for the unconscious mind to indicate "yes", "no" or "I'm not ready to know that consciously". Scientific studies have not been conducted to support this method.[2]

marti101

I think if you want to try by all means do,but you should also listen to people who have bad experiences.I think sometimes its very easy to take the mickey on something like this butwhen you have a bad experience like i did and the entity is following you around you tend to believe pretty damn quick.I know i wouldnt try it again its made me very wary.Luckily i never asked any stupid questions like when was i going to die.You just dont know who you are going to get or what will happen,i could be coincidence but i wouldnt like to bet on it.

Spunge

Would a oujia board work if the participants were blindfolded ?

assuming there was a camera or someone else watching to see what was said.

???

No it doesn't. It's been shown before that all you get is gibberish!

monkeyfudge

??? wrote: »

No it doesn't. It's been shown before that all you get is gibberish!

Ah... but that's because the spirit is using your eyes to see the board. You can cover every angle if you really want to believe that dead people hang about waiting for you to whip out a ouija board so they can deliver threatening messages.

Skeptic_Desu

monkeyfudge wrote: »

Ah... but that's because the spirit is using your eyes to see the board. You can cover every angle if you really want to believe that dead people hang about waiting for you to whip out a ouija board so they can deliver threatening messages.

But what if the ouija board was in braille?

monkeyfudge

Skeptic_Desu wrote: »

But what if the ouija board was in braille?

Well you'd need to a person and/or spirit who knows brail. How likely is that?