# 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:** 5
**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, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/81 "2009-02-19T17:33:54Z")
> [@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. Hey this plan even works for cigarette companies. Uh huh. I rememeber how everyone I know who used a Ouija board got into the occult. By “everyone” I mean “Nobody.” It’s strange how people who believe in supernatural hooey always seem to see it inthe tiniest, most irrelevant places. Ouija boards. Jesus appearing in cheese sandwiches. Messages from spirits in the creaking of a house. If God or Satan wants to let us know something, they’ve got the budget to do better. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/82 "2009-02-19T17:36:06Z")
If the OP seriously wanted to test this, all he would have to do would be to write down 25 words himself, hide the list, invite his friends over, and then have them guess the words with you standing to the side and not touching the board. Unless he was such a sucker that they could wheedle the words out of him, that would be a pretty good test. And if I was the devil, I wouldn’t restrict myself to whispering through some silly board game that hardly ever gets played. I would whisper to people when they _prayed_. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/83 "2009-02-19T17:36:45Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > Mary Oh God! That’s MY maternal grandmother’s name. It’s a MIRACLE! Wait, Satan can’t perform miracles, can he? **Chief Pedant** , you are inleague with the DEVIL!!! ---
**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, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/84 "2009-02-19T17:44:26Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > And if I was the devil, I wouldn’t restrict myself to whispering through some silly board game that hardly ever gets played. I would whisper to people when they _prayed_. What makes you think he doesn’t do that also? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/85 "2009-02-19T17:45:04Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Oh God! That’s MY maternal grandmother’s name. It’s a MIRACLE! It’s my wife’s name! That’s just too eerie not to call it a hit. **Chief Pedant** , can you ask my grandfather a question for me? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/86 "2009-02-19T17:45:18Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > What makes you think he doesn’t do that also? Unions? ---
**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, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/87 "2009-02-19T17:46:49Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > 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’).” That’s the same thought process behind irreducible complexity / intelligent design. They jump from “I do not see how that could have evolved” to “It couldn’t have evolved”. What gall to think millions of years of mutation couldn’t come up with a evolutionary process that person couldn’t think of. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/88 "2009-02-19T17:49:43Z")
Oh geez. I’m voting for the OP pulling our leg. The only time I ever believed the Ouija board worked was when I was like 13. Of course I also believed that ‘light as a feather stiff as a board’ worked and my friends and I just weren’t doing it right. Funny enough, I was even scared to throw away my ouija board for the longest time cause I heard it will come back to you and be pissed! ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/89 "2009-02-19T17:50:49Z")
I love Ouija boards. I started using one in the 70’s. I even wrote a program that lets you use a wireless mouse so your computer will print out the words as you spell them. HOWEVER, they are toys. My wife and I are extremely adept at using one with others but expecially with each other and have amazed many of our friends at several parties throughout the years. We have done the list thing and draw objects thing many times. IT IS A TRICK! Sorry for shouting, they are great fun and in a pinch we can use a small glass on a coffee table and do the same things. I have a great trick where with a tiny bit of pressure I can make the planchette fly across the room and hit someone. Unfortunately, quite a few people believe it really works even after we tell them we were messing with them. I quit the flying thing after a lady screamed, ran out of the house and called the police, not kidding, she really freaked out and thought we were plotting to kill her. Maybe we are just sadistic and the only ones having fun, but I assure you we NEVER contacted a demon, ghost, alien, sprit guide or anything else. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/90 "2009-02-19T17:51:32Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > What makes you think he doesn’t do that also? Me? Because he doesn’t exist. The more pertinent question is why _you_ (and other believers in such things) think you have _ever_ gotten through to an actual benevolent God, when you believe there is a deceiver with all the incentive in the world to impersonate one? ---
**Author:** ![martu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@martu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/martu)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/91 "2009-02-19T17:52:36Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > What makes you think he doesn’t do that also? He is a fictional character from a story? Prayer is talking to yourself? ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/92 "2009-02-19T17:55:37Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Oh God! That’s MY maternal grandmother’s name. It’s a MIRACLE! Oh and, AAAH! That’s MY maternal grandmother’s name too! And my maternal aunt’s! And my sister’s! How could you POSSIBLY have guessed that?!? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/93 "2009-02-19T17:58:08Z")
You know what’s weird? The keys on my keyboard just depressed in a certain order. In fact, the depressed keys on my keyboard are spelling out this very post! And I’m absolutely certain that nobody tampered with it, because I had my hands on the keyboard the entire time-- Not only that, but each time a key was pressed, one of my fingers was on that key, so I know that nobody was tampering with it! This is so freaky… My keyboard must have a connection to the spirit world! What should I do with it? ---
**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, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/94 "2009-02-19T18:00:19Z")
> [@Lanzy](#): > > Maybe we are just sadistic and the only ones having fun, but I assure you we NEVER contacted a demon, ghost, alien, sprit guide or anything else. Maybe, but then that’s just what Satan would say, huh? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/95 "2009-02-19T18:00:57Z")
> [@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.” Sir, I know Satan: I work with Satan; Satan is a friend of mine. And He would _ **so** _ not use a faggy word like “planchette.” ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/96 "2009-02-19T18:03:59Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > 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. But didn’t you read where he said that THIS HAPPENED IN HIS OWN HOUSE ?!? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/97 "2009-02-19T18:07:54Z")
Ouija boards are toys _made and patented by a toy company._ Isn’t that kind of the end of the story? It says so on the box, too. The fact that religious and spiritual people of the same type and different types can’t agree what the deal is says more about them than about the board. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/98 "2009-02-19T18:07:54Z")
I’ve got my [Conversations With Dead People](http://www.darkhorse.com/Products/15-340/Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer-Conversations-with-Dead-People-Board) ouija board, and really, isn’t that all that matters? ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/99 "2009-02-19T18:09:14Z")
> [@Ensign\_Edison](#): > > 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. I know he was joking about the upgrade to a nicer board, but I thought he was serious about the ‘gateway to the occult’ comment. If I was wrong about that, my mistake but with this subject I’m not really sure how to tell the difference between the real beliefs and the joke ones. ---
**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, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528/100 "2009-02-19T18:11:20Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Oh God! That’s MY maternal grandmother’s name. It’s a MIRACLE! Wait, that’s my maternal grandmother’s name as well! Spooky!!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528.md?page=6)