# ouija boards **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 26, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539 "2003-05-26T05:15:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Petter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dbc845/32.png) [@Petter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petter)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/101 "2003-05-27T21:37:27Z")
> [@](#): > > How can a spiritual being be limited to what the participants can see or do? Because the Russian spirits only manifest through people who speak Russian. Because the spirits won’t be channeled by people who intend to trick them. Because deaf, blind or mute spirits can’t be channeled. Waiter? Another brick wall over here, please. Make it a double. ---
**Author:** ![lynn73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@lynn73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynn73)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/102 "2003-05-27T21:45:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lekatt \* > \*\*The main reason I don’t listen to you is that you’re driven by fear. One has two main choices in this world, Love or fear. Love can teach you anything, but fear only allows you to learn what it deems. > Love > Leroy \*\* You’re mistaken. I’m not driven by fear. What drives me is the truth I find in the word of God. And no I don’t want to get into a debate on that subject that will go nowhere. You’re entitled to your viewpoint as to what you think drives me, but only I and God knows what drives me. In Christ, His4ever ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/103 "2003-05-27T22:00:41Z")
Those sites you linked are quite amusing, His4Ever. The only thing they can seem to agree on is “Ouija Boards are Eeeeevuhl!” The most amusing thing was one site advancing the idea that Ouija meant something in Egyptian when one of the other sites said it was a compound from two other words. For the bogus Egyptian etymology: let’s go ahead and say, “Sure.” Now, that puts you into an interesting dilemman, what with Jesus being God’s **gift** to humanity. English is a Germanic language and, in German, the word **gift** means poison. So, there you have it folks! Jesus is poison to humanity! I think a more realistic (and intelligent plan) is to look at sites that deign to use facts, logic, and reality instead of bunk to make their arguments. ---
**Author:** ![lynn73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@lynn73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynn73)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/104 "2003-05-27T22:11:27Z")
I"m sooo glad you got your laugh for the day. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/105 "2003-05-27T22:12:32Z")
ITS A TOY. It comes from a toy store. It doesn’t require any more research. ---
**Author:** ![Equal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Equal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equal)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/106 "2003-05-27T22:12:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Greyson3 \* > \*\*Still you fail to understand! Perhaps I can explain it a little more clearly. > > There was a man who worked at a convenience store. This man had no ears. One day a dog came into his store and asked for some “chewy”. The man with no ears said “I can’t hear you! I have no ears!” So the dog chewed on his legs. > > I trust my meaning is clear. \*\* The dog then pissed on his leg. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Equal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Equal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equal)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/107 "2003-05-27T22:16:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by His4ever \* > \*\*I"m sooo glad you got your laugh for the day. \*\* You guys like each other, right? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lynn73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@lynn73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynn73)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/108 "2003-05-27T23:06:53Z")
🙂 ---
**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:** [May 28, 2003, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/109 "2003-05-28T09:54:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\*Why would they need they eyes of the players? Are the spirits all blind? (and by calling them “players” are you admitting that it’s a toy?) \*\* I don’t know, I just thought it strange to wear blindfolds, why not tie their hands behind them and see if that works. Should be good for another laugh. Just take the word players however you want, It’s really not some secret code. Everyone here seems to be an expert on the board, but no one has yet understood why it works. ---
**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:** [May 28, 2003, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/110 "2003-05-28T10:01:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > \*\ ***Simple Experiments to Prove the Ouija Board is Hogwash.** > > 1. Use a board with unfamiliar alphabet, say Cyrillic. Can you channel a spirit who speaks Russian? > > 2. Make your own board with a simple symbol-substitution code instead of letters. Don’t let the planchette wielders see the code. Decipher the result only after the “message” is “received.” > > You can make up any number of these sorts of trials. All of them demonstrate that the planchette wielders must be able to see the board and directly manipulate the pointer for any legible result to be produced. > > How can a spiritual being be limited to what the participants can see or do? > > It’s a piece of cardboard with letters on it. It works via the ideomotor effect. It is simple to understand and easy to explain. There ain’t no “fear of the spiritual” or any other hogwash going on here. It ain’t no gateway to the occult. It’s a prosaic object with a rational explanation. > > Anyone who denies this is either delusional, dishonest, or stupid. Choose one. \*\* Amazing! Instead of doing all this whatever, why don’t we just eliminate the board altogether, I bet that would prove it doesn’t work. Does anyone know what “ideomotor” is, is that when you get an idea it motors across the board, strange. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/111 "2003-05-28T10:36:51Z")
**Leroy** , stop ignoring what you have been told several times already in this thread. [Please read this page, all the way through.](http://www.hcrc.org/contrib/hyman/ideomotor.html) [Now read it again, all the way through.](http://www.hcrc.org/contrib/hyman/ideomotor.html) Now, can we agree that this is a _real, observable_ effect? If not, what specific shortcomings did you believe those demonstrations displayed? On past experience I am expecting you not to answer, save perhaps for some cod theosophy one might find in a fortune cookie. I am expecting that, evermore, whenever “the ideamotor effect” is mentioned you will contend that there is no such thing because “an idea motoring an object across the table is ridiculous” or something. Prove me wrong **Leroy** , I _know_ you can do better than this. Believe me, I’m on your side but you’ve got to stop insulting people’s intelligence like this ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/112 "2003-05-28T16:48:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lekatt \* > **Does anyone know what “ideomotor” is** Everyone in the thread except you. As usual. ---
**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:** [May 28, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/113 "2003-05-28T19:01:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SentientMeat \* > \*\ ***Leroy** , stop ignoring what you have been told several times already in this thread. > > [Please read this page, all the way through.](http://www.hcrc.org/contrib/hyman/ideomotor.html) > > [Now read it again, all the way through.](http://www.hcrc.org/contrib/hyman/ideomotor.html) > > Now, can we agree that this is a _real, observable_ effect? > If not, what specific shortcomings did you believe those demonstrations displayed? > On past experience I am expecting you not to answer, save perhaps for some cod theosophy one might find in a fortune cookie. I am expecting that, evermore, whenever “the ideamotor effect” is mentioned you will contend that there is no such thing because “an idea motoring an object across the table is ridiculous” or something. > > Prove me wrong **Leroy** , I _know_ you can do better than this. Believe me, I’m on your side but you’ve got to stop insulting people’s intelligence like this \*\* I read it, don’t see that it pertains to the subject of this thread. I am insulting people? There seems to be a large number of experts here on the spirit board, I would guess not a single one of them have any experience with it. I live in the real world, the world of experience, examine, touch, try, see if this works or that works. I don’t know the world you live in. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/114 "2003-05-28T20:23:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lekatt \* > \*\*There seems to be a large number of experts here on the spirit board, I would guess not a single one of them have any experience with it. I live in the real world, the world of experience, examine, touch, try, see if this works or that works. I don’t know the world you live in. \*\* If you’re suggesting that not one skeptic has ever tried a talking board, you’d be dead wrong. It wasn’t Wee-gee, but years ago I had a [Ka-bala](http://stevenintermill.com/mysterious.html) board. (In a fit of nostalgia, I recently paid mega bucks for one one eBay.) My brother and I decided to ask the spirits what he would be when he grew up. The spritual truth came out that he would follow in the footsteps of OJ Simpson. Did it come true? Well, so far his wife remains relatively unbludgeoned. OK, he really got the message that he would be QB for the Bills. Did he? Not by a long shot. His current profession has very little to do with sports, and nothing with football. He doesn’t live anywhere near Buffalo. So I ask: Were the spirits wrong? Or was ideomotoring just telling him what he wanted to hear? ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/115 "2003-05-29T16:18:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tdn \* > \*\* > Were the spirits wrong? > Or was ideomotoring just telling him what he wanted to hear? \*\* Just to play devil’s advocate, exactly what claim is being made by the Ouija (etc.) board believers? I was under the impression that an Ouija board is supposed to let you contact spirits, not that the board is a source of infallible information. Seems to me that spirits could lie, be mistaken, be confused, or whatever. Why would anyone expect a noncorporeal being with lousy spelling skills to be an accurate predictor of future events, anyway? ---
**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:** [May 29, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/116 "2003-05-29T17:03:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Podkayne \* > \*\*Just to play devil’s advocate, exactly what claim is being made by the Ouija (etc.) board believers? > > I was under the impression that an Ouija board is supposed to let you contact spirits, not that the board is a source of infallible information. Seems to me that spirits could lie, be mistaken, be confused, or whatever. > > Why would anyone expect a noncorporeal being with lousy spelling skills to be an accurate predictor of future events, anyway? \*\* Funny, and true. There was a group of spiritual people (about 10) who wrote a book with a Quija board. The title was “Messages from Michael”, it did so well they wrote another called “More Messages from Michael.” I read them some years ago and they were very interesting, I understand they traded the board around and spent a lot of time doing this. Just information. Love Leroy ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/117 "2003-05-29T17:11:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lekatt \* > **There was a group of spiritual people (about 10) who wrote a book with a Quija board. The title was “Messages from Michael”, it did so well they wrote another called “More Messages from Michael.” I read them some years ago and they were very interesting** _You_ read a _ **book?** _ Better be careful, there. Some of that nasty ol’ _information_ might gain a foothold. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/118 "2003-05-29T17:15:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bullets \* > \*\*does anyone have a clue as to what makes these things work? > > i have seen some pretty strange things occur which pretty well rule out the user’s subconscious. \*\* “Pretty well rule out” might not be as ironclad as you suppose. Do these strange things rule out the users conscious mind too? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/119 "2003-05-29T17:30:23Z")
Hell, I’ve used a Ouija board, many times. They’re fun. So is “Risk.” ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539/120 "2003-05-29T17:35:29Z")
The spirit of Napoleon once attempted to contact me when I was playing Risk once. My brother got in touchwith Wellington, though. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards/177539.md?page=7)