Created in the late 19th century to capitalize on the fad of contacting the dead, the item has generated profits, fears and controversy. Find out about the history of the artifact, learn how to use it and learn about cases of those who have already played with danger.
THE STORY
– (João Tila/)
1) The Ouija board is directly related to spiritualism, which emerged as a religious movement in 1848 and became a religion in 1893. Spiritism, common in Brazil, emerged at the same time, in 1857. In common, religions share the belief in spirits and the possibility of communicating with them. At that time, mediums and seances were common and accepted by society.
two) In the midst of this context of widespread mediumship, accessories to mediate contact with the dead were normal. Talking boards, with the printed alphabet, were already successful in the USA in the 19th century, but it was in 1890 that businessman Elijah Bond had the idea of selling one of these together with a clipboard that could slide over the letters. . William Fuld, one of his employees, soon began producing his own boards and is credited with popularizing the game.
3) No one really knows where the name «Ouija» came from. The folklore surrounding the item points out that it would be a portmanteau of the words “yes” in French and German – “oui” and “ja”. According to historian Robert Murch, the name would have been suggested by the tablet itself in an Elijah Bond session with his sister-in-law, Helen Peters. But it is very likely that this demonstration had to do with the necklace that Helen was wearing at the time, containing a photo of a woman activist named Ouida
4) It was during World War I (1914-1918) that the popularity of the Ouija board grew, particularly among Catholics. In the context of uncertainties and deaths, people’s desire to know about the future and contact deceased loved ones has grown. Worried, Pope Pius X summoned, in 1919, the “psychic investigator” J. Godfrey Raupert to warn the faithful about the rich in gambling. It was at this time that he published the book The New Black Magic and the Truth About the Ouija Board, relating the board to black magic.
5) It was William Blatty’s book The Exorcist that, in 1971, changed the fame of the game. Is that the author was inspired by the real case of a boy from the state of Maryland who would have come into contact with a demon through the game in 1949 and later would have been possessed by the entity. With that, from an instrument to speak with the dead, the Ouija board became an artifact of demonic invocation. The 1973 film adaptation only added to that fame.
6) Over time, the use of the board ceased to be associated with religion and became more connected to the occult – Catholics, for example, today condemn the item. But it remains popular, being the subject of movies like ouija (2014) and having sold an estimated quantity of at least 25 million units in history. It is easy to find the board in toy stores – the current patent owner is the giant Hasbro
7) There is a scientific explanation for the movement that rolls in the game. It’s called the ideomotor effect – the influence of suggestion on involuntary motor behaviors. in your book Pseudoscience and the Paranormal, from 1988, professor of neurology Terence Hines writes: “The clipboard is guided by unconscious muscular exertions. The illusion that the object is moving on its own is usually extremely powerful and enough to convince many people that there really are spirits at work.”
THE RULES
The regulation considered official was determined by the company Novelty Kennard, the first company to patent the game, in 1891
– (João Tila/)
1) The ideal is to play in pairs, but the more people in the group, the more hectic the game will be. The main tip here is: never play alone or in the graveyard. According to popular culture, the lack of companionship makes it easier for spirits to torment players. And since the 16th century, and especially from the 17th, it has been common superstition to understand that cemeteries are frequented by spirits.
two) Before contacting the spirits, it’s good to set up a mood for the game, which includes waiting for nightfall, turning off the lights and lighting candles and incense. To talk to a specific relative, what can help is to decorate the board with jewels and other relics of the deceased
3) Choose one person to be the medium, a sort of spokesperson for the group. The board can be placed on top of the knees of two participants or on a table. Players should be placed on the sides or centered on the base of the board, but the reason is practicality – viewing the board upside down can be confusing.
4) All participants must place their index and middle fingers on the clipboard. At the start of the game, the piece must be located on the letter G (another unexplained commandment of popular culture). There are cases where the board needs a certain amount of time to start responding. If it takes too long, a possible solution is to move the artboard in circles
5) Start the dialogue simply, gradually increasing the complexity of the questions. Some suggestions: How many spirits are there in this room? Are you a good spirit? What is your name? For good results, everyone needs to focus on game issues only. It’s good for someone to write down the clipboard movements so that the information is not forgotten.
6) The default way to end the game is to say «goodbye». But unforeseen events can happen. According to the medium Leonardo Trevisan, games like Ouija tend to attract playful spirits or those with low morals. If the board passes through the four corners of the board, it means that an evil spirit is present. If the piece makes an eight without stopping, it is a sign that the evil spirit is in control of the board.
7) When the spirit has the strange behavior described in the previous legend, it must be assumed that it intends to escape the board. If that happens, the main risk is that players will be tormented indefinitely. There is also a risk of possession, but only in extreme cases. To prevent, end the chat: turn the board upside down or count from Z to A (or from 9 to 0)
DARK CASES
Discover four real (and scary) stories connected to the Ouija board
– (João Tila/)
The Threat of the Spirit
The death of Scottish Angela Jackson’s father, in 2008, was a trigger to make her obsessed with life after death. During a spiritualist meeting, the deceased told her, according to the medium: “You are thinking of using the Ouija board, but don’t do it. Nothing good will come of it.” She ignored the alert and made a match with friends. On it, the clipboard spelled out her name and then the phrase “die bitch”. Months later, the woman was attacked by a man who said the same sentence before hitting her in the head with a hammer. Angela survived and filed a police report, but no one was arrested or suspected.
The possessed tourists
In 2014, three young people were hospitalized in the city of San Juan Tlacotenco, Mexico, claiming possession by evil spirits. Alexandra Huerta was playing a session with the Ouija board with her brother Sergio and cousin Fernando Cuevas when she started to grunt and move in a “strange” way. Soon after, Sergio and Fernando suffered a loss of consciousness and hallucinations. The young people were rescued by paramedics, who applied analgesics, tranquilizers and eye drops.
ordered to kill
In 2007, young Joshua Tucker and Donald Schalchlin asked a spirit, through a Ouija board, if they should become serial killers. The hypothetical disembodied soul said yes and ordered the first person they killed to be a mother. In the same month, Tucker stabbed Schalchlin’s mother and sister to death. Donald helped Joshua with the crimes, hiding his sister’s body. The two tried to run away, but were caught by the police. Schalchlin received a sentence of 9 and a half years and Tucker 41 years
evil possession
American Gary Gilmore shot and killed two men in 1976 in Utah, USA. He was arrested for the crime and asked to be executed, which he did the following year. In 1994, his brother Mikal published a book talking about his childhood. According to him, his mother Bessie believed that she had come into contact with an evil spirit as a child during a Ouija board game. She said that spirit attached itself to her family, particularly Gary. For Bessie, it was the spirit that drove her son to commit the murders.
CONSULTANCY Leonardo Pires Trevisan, psychography medium of the Vila dos Amigos Spiritist Association
SOURCES Book History – the world hanging by a thread: from the 20th to the 21st century, by Ronaldo Vainfas, Georgina Silva dos Santos, Jorge Luiz Ferreira and Sheila Siqueira de Castro Faria; Galileo, The Daily Dot, Museum of Talking Boards, The Skeptic’s Dictionary, Smithsonian, WeMystic, The Paranormal and Nerdist sites