English 1020 - Analyzing the Ouija Board

Brika Broussard

Professor Marsh

English 1020-L09

02-06-2018

Analyzing the Ouija Board

Have you ever wanted to connect with spirits? Have you ever tried? What about the old Bloody Mary game? Well, have you ever heard of the "talking board"? Sure you did, you might not have heard it referred to as the "talking board" but almost every American knows about it. This mysterious "talking board" is what we call the "Ouija Board". The box contains a board and a planchette. A planchette is also a small piece of wood, or plastic the players place their fingers on. The board itself has alphabets, numbers and the words yes, no, good evening: and goodnight written on it. An article on Mentalfloss.com states that the Ouija board was founded in Ohio around the late 1800s and has been a trending game for parties ever since (Mccarthy). It has made its appearance in many hit horror movies. The Ouija board is said to bring spirits into a place where the game is being played, and the spirits may never leave. As a teen, who wouldn’t want to try and awaken spirits? Sounds like a fun thing to do with a bunch of rebellious friends. Why not try to impress your friends by buying one of these boards? In America today, Americans have established many different methods to awake spirits. One of the most common methods would have to be the Ouija Board. Although many Americans don’t believe awakening spirits is a good idea, there are some Americans who awake spirits for many different reasons.

What exactly is an Ouija Board? How is it played? According to a report on Nerdist.com Ouija Board was invented by Elijah Bond and wasn’t considered a game used to talk to the dead until World War 1 (Hill). An article on Vellamour.com explains the three steps to using the Ouija. Before playing, note that no one should play this game if they aren't comfortable with playing. Bad energy may contract a bad experience. The first step is to set the mood, the author says they never play around 3 in the morning, just because of superstition. You will need the board, friends, a candle, a table, a pen, and a notebook. Have every one sit around the table, where each person can see the board, then light your candle. Step two is to assign roles. You need a speaker, which is the person who communicates with the board and askes the questions. Also, you will need a scribe, this is the person who writes down the questions and answers and uses the planchette. Then the last step is to begin asking questions and wait for the planchette to move. Common questions to ask are, are you there? Are you a good spirit? How old are you? And whatever else you want to know. Be careful when playing with this game and know when to quit. The author says that she quits playing whenever the board shows her unusual signs. These signs may involve, the planchette moving and not trying to spell anything. When the spirit talks back but not related to the question, this can show signs that the spirit may have too much energy, and it's time to end it before it gets bad (Mour).

 What's so wrong with the Ouija board, why whenever the board is brought up, everyone raises their eyebrows? Well, according to an article on Lolwot.com, there are 15 reasons why you should never use a Ouija Board. I'll just give you a few. There are good spirits, but with good comes bad. You might receive a bad demon, or maybe one you can't get rid of. Another reason is, you can become possessed, which can involve your head spinning around. Playing with an Ouija Board can also cause mental issues, which may include suicidal thoughts. You can get addicted to Ouija board, the board may tell you things you enjoy hearing, just to keep you coming back for more. Also, getting rid of the Ouija Board isn't as simple as throwing it away. You have to break the board into seven pieces, then pour holy water on it, and lastly bury it (15 Reasons to Never Use a Ouija Board). Why would you have pour holy water after breaking the board? Well since the ouija board supposedly awaken spirits, the holy water poured on it apparently should die out any spirits.

Lots of people play with the Ouija Board and there are many different true stories about their experiences with it. An article on thoughtcatalog.com give many different stories. One player asked the board how long they had to live. When everybody else asked, they got 50 plus years. But when he asked, the board said 10 days. Also, that he would get into a car accident caused by a girl and die. As the days went by, they would ask the same question and the days would only decrease. The player stated he started carrying a bible around and wearing a cross. He didn’t attend school on his apparent "death day" and nothing happened. Another story was a wife and a husband whom had experience strange things going on in their home, decided to try the Ouija Board. They brought in a bad spirit, which ran them out the home. Apparently after they used it, they heard TVs going off by them self, voices, moving objects, and the wife even stated the husband became possessed one night.