# Ouija Boards - I used to think it was bull until...... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 19, 2009, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528 "2009-02-19T09:46:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/61 "2009-02-19T16:50:23Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Has anyone outside of dedicated Spiritualists or have-to-look-good-for-the-yokels scam artists ever bought a fancy onyx and malachite type ouija board? I can only imagine that especially fancy letterboards and planchettes are fairly rare, given the market for a luxury item of that type has to be tiny. no, but i was idly imagining making one out of those electronic detector thingies the ghost hunters use to see if a spirit is trying to contact them … if the little light lights up, it is a hit on the number/letter/yesnoword. No planchette required … but it would probably be the size of an anvil footlocker type case…☹ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/62 "2009-02-19T16:50:38Z")
> [@Snnipe\_70E](#): > > No one gets one day and decides I have decided to serve the Devil. Unless they work in Hell’s kitchen! ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/63 "2009-02-19T16:53:13Z")
> [@Snnipe\_70E](#): > > Demons are not the spirits of dead people. Demons will Identify themselves as your grandma to descieve you. Messing with Ouija boards can be dangerous. It is not messing with the afterlife but with the spirit world. Dangerous how? If you don’t mind, please provide a concrete example or two of someone you know who ‘messed with a Ouija board’, and the negative effects suffered because of it. Please be very specific. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/64 "2009-02-19T16:58:26Z")
My favorite ouija board story entails a group of kids playing with the thing and getting freaked out so bad they threw it into the fireplace. It burned with WEIRD COLORS, proving it was a gateway to the demon realms!!! Or maybe it was lacquered wood. Either theory is equally possibly, right? There’s pretty much the same amount of lacquered wood as there is documented demon realm gateways, am I right? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/65 "2009-02-19T16:59:13Z")
> [@Snnipe\_70E](#): > > No one gets one day and descides I have descided to serve the Devil. “I have decided to serve the deviled HAM”, yes. “I have decided to serve the deviled EGGS”, yes. But not “I have decided to serve the Devil.” Mostly because he tastes like brimstone. Ech. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/66 "2009-02-19T17:03:54Z")
I’m always amazed at how quickly some people when faced with something that can’t be immediately explained default to a paranormal explanation. What the hell kind of screwed up logic is that? When you go see David Copperfield perform and can’t explain or figure out how a trick is done do you exclaim “paranormal! spiritual! David is a demon!! There is no other possible explanation!” People would think you were a fool. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/67 "2009-02-19T17:05:40Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Why does this seem like what Satan might say: > “Yes, it’s just a toy, there are no demon, just people with their hands on the planchette.” If there was a Satan, which there is not, but if there was, don’t you think such a powerful being would find a more direct and effective way of turning people to the dark side than having them play with a cheap-ass toy from Parker Brothers? I mean, if that’s the best Satan can do, he’s a pretty pathetic figure. I always thought Satan would be, you know, effectively evil, like Gabriel Byrne in “End of Days” who can set fire to things and punch a man’s head right off his shoulders. How can you be scared of a devil whose power is restricted to a Ouija board? Do you also oppose playing Scrabble? The Devil could make the letters come up in certain combinations to deliver demonic messages. It comes from the same company. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/68 "2009-02-19T17:05:55Z")
Incidentally, **martin** , may I offer yet another explanation for it? The person who drew the pictures and one of the group still at the board were in cahoots and the person at the board knew what the draw-er was going to draw already. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/69 "2009-02-19T17:08:11Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I’m always amazed at how quickly some people when faced with something that can’t be immediately explained default to a paranormal explanation. > What the hell kind of screwed up logic is that? > > When you go see David Copperfield perform and can’t explain or figure out how a trick is done do you exclaim “paranormal! spiritual! David is a demon!! There is no other possible explanation!” > > People would think you were a fool. People overestimate themselves – they jump from “I can’t explain it!” to “It can’t be explained!” without ever stopping in the middle at “Maybe I’m just an idiot (or don’t have all the facts, but that’s not quite as snappy as ‘idiot’).” ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/70 "2009-02-19T17:10:41Z")
> [@martin2588](#): > > I need your help, Please do not just say, they are fake etc, without providing fact as what has happended cannot be explained or can it? Okay **martin2588** , let’s do an experiment. You don’t know me from Adam and I am completely anonymous on a message board so I can’t be screwing with your game. Get together the same group of people and ask it the name of my paternal grandmother. Come back here and report. If the answer is right I will send you $100 and rethink my religious beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/71 "2009-02-19T17:11:26Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > I didn’t realize the Ouija board had such a powerful effect on people nowadays. Kanicbird, lekatt, and Friar Ted (where’s ITR Champion?) have convinced me to go out and buy one for my 12 year old son and his friends, right away. It promises to be fun and a learning experience. In the hands of experience, a board is fun and insightful, but I would not recommend it for a 12-year-old. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/72 "2009-02-19T17:15:21Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > Okay **martin2588** , let’s do an experiment. You don’t know me from Adam and I am completely anonymous on a message board so I can’t be screwing with your game. Get together the same group of people and ask it the name of my paternal grandmother. Come back here and report. If the answer is right I will send you $100 and rethink my religious beliefs. Mary ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/73 "2009-02-19T17:15:33Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Has anyone outside of dedicated Spiritualists or have-to-look-good-for-the-yokels scam artists ever bought a fancy onyx and malachite type ouija board? I can only imagine that especially fancy letterboards and planchettes are fairly rare, given the market for a luxury item of that type has to be tiny. I have a small collection of boards 15-20, but it does not matter what the board is made of or how much it costs. The operation is the same. Actually the board is just a tool. I said that before. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/74 "2009-02-19T17:16:31Z")
> [@Snnipe\_70E](#): > > No one gets one day and descides I have descided to serve the Devil. It depends. Is the devil a good tipper? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/75 "2009-02-19T17:18:43Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > I have a small collection of boards 15-20, but it does not matter what the board is made of or how much it costs. The operation is the same. Actually the board is just a tool. I said that before. We agree, then. It doesn’t matter the cost or material, the board works the same way. We just disagree on what that sentence means. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/76 "2009-02-19T17:19:46Z")
> [@omgzebras](#): > > Oh come on, how many of these do you think they’ve sold? Tens, hundreds of thousands? I almost can’t believe it, but I think you just got whooshed by lekatt. He was kidding about the “gateway drug to carved onyx”. I think. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/77 "2009-02-19T17:23:21Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > If there was a Satan, which there is not, but if there was, don’t you think such a powerful being would find a more direct and effective way of turning people to the dark side than having them play with a cheap-ass toy from Parker Brothers? > > I mean, if that’s the best Satan can do, he’s a pretty pathetic figure. I always thought Satan would be, you know, effectively evil, like Gabriel Byrne in “End of Days” who can set fire to things and punch a man’s head right off his shoulders. How can you be scared of a devil whose power is restricted to a Ouija board? > > Do you also oppose playing Scrabble? The Devil could make the letters come up in certain combinations to deliver demonic messages. It comes from the same company. The Ouija board seems exactly what the devil would use, to go after the children with something that can plant the seed of occult contact which is socially acceptable at teenage and adult get togethers. Hey this plan even works for cigarette companies. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/78 "2009-02-19T17:25:21Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > Mary 😃 1. For this experiment to work it has to be martin who goes back and does the ouija thing, so my cash offer doesn’t apply to anyone else. 2. He gets one shot at it. If he just guesses a bunch of crap he doesn’t get the money. 3. This experiment is designed to allow him to prove to himself that he is being fooled by his friends. If he comes in with a question that no one knew before hand and that no one there could possibly know the answer to the ouija board will either “refuse” to answer him or it will give him a name that will not be correct. If that is the case then he has learned a valuable lesson in gullibility. If the game gives him the correct answer then he gets $100. For him it is win-win. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/79 "2009-02-19T17:27:45Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > 1. This experiment is designed to allow him to prove to himself that he is being fooled by his friends. If he comes in with a question that no one knew before hand and that no one there could possibly know the answer to the ouija board will either “refuse” to answer him or it will give him a name that will not be correct. If that is the case then he has learned a valuable lesson in gullibility. If the game gives him the correct answer then he gets $100. For him it is win-win. But maybe the spirits are dismayed by his show of obvious skepticism and are shunning him, therefore there won’t be any answer! Or you, yourself, are clouding the spirits with your egregious naysaying and scaring them away so they can’t dip into your mind to find the answer! See? It’s all your fault! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/80 "2009-02-19T17:29:00Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > The Ouija board seems exactly what the devil would use, to go after the children with something that can plant the seed of occult contact which is socially acceptable at teenage and adult get togethers. Wouldn’t it make more sense to work through something popular? Like TV or videogames? Why something as obscure and dorky as a Ouija board? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528.md?page=5)