# Ouiji Boards, what do you think about them? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 19, 2003, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385 "2003-10-19T17:09:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/21 "2003-10-20T01:45:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vanilla \* > \*\*Attempting to get information outside the will of God is forbidden. > I don’t think Monopoly or Scrabble qualify. \*\* Neither does a Ouija board, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/22 "2003-10-20T01:55:51Z")
Oh, I suppose people use the board to win the game? or get the most points? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/23 "2003-10-20T01:58:22Z")
**Vanilla** , it is a _toy_. Even if you _believe_ in God and demons and ghosts and such, this is no more “mystical” than a Magic 8-Ball or those paper thingies you fold up on your fingers like little birdie-beaks to tell your fortune. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/24 "2003-10-20T02:05:51Z")
Now, now, **Eve**. It has just as much mysticism as tarot cards, astrology, crystals, and magnetic bracelets Hey, I did a good job keeping straight face, didn’t I? ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/25 "2003-10-20T02:09:54Z")
Q, thank you for coming through with the mocking. 🙂 bye ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/26 "2003-10-20T02:20:47Z")
Hey, if anyone can provide proof-positive that any one of those things can do what is claimed, I will forever cease to mock them, _and_ I’ll show you where you can get a million dollars for it. Until then, if you profess belief in silly superstions and ridiculous paranormal occurrences in my presence, prepare to be mocked. I’ll respect your religious beliefs, but when science can prove you wrong on anything else, you’re fair game. ---
**Author:** ![Capcha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Capcha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capcha)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/27 "2003-10-20T02:23:32Z")
All of it is a load of crap for-your-entertainment. But i still consult my tarot…iiiihhh… ---
**Author:** ![Mearl\_Dox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Mearl\_Dox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mearl_Dox)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/28 "2003-10-20T02:25:23Z")
I just bought a book on the I Ching, and used it to tell my fortune. I don’t believe in it (I don’t really believe in any fortunetelling method) but what makes this less sinister than an Ouija board, if at all? Did the dread voice of Satin or Clem try to tell me that I am associated with the character “kuai/breakthrough” right now? Or can I rest assured that, since this method communicates through Chinese instead of English, it’s probably not evil? Inquiring minds want to know! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/29 "2003-10-20T02:52:09Z")
They can be fun-especially if you can mess with people. If I were a spirit, I’d come through a Ouija board and make up weird stupid phrases, and try to confuse people. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/30 "2003-10-20T04:04:51Z")
If you were a spirit, wouldn’t it be fun to send people message through games they DON’T expect messages from? Scrabble would be a good one. OR breakfast cereals: PETER: There’s a message in my Alpha-Bits! It says, `Oooooooh!’ BRIAN: Peter, those are Cheerios. ---
**Author:** ![Cruktar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d9b06d/32.png) [@Cruktar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cruktar)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/31 "2003-10-20T04:36:15Z")
A devout skeptic here, I decided to give it an honest try. Predictably enough, we got some right answers, but when we closed our eyes and worked the thing or asked questions we didn’t know, we got wrong answers or gibberish. Color me completely unsurprised. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/32 "2003-10-20T05:12:16Z")
**What do you think of the boards? Do you think they’re for real?** Yes, I think they’re real and that’s why I stay the hell away from them. ---
**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:** [October 20, 2003, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/33 "2003-10-20T05:13:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > **If you were a spirit, wouldn’t it be fun to send people message through games they DON’T expect messages from?** \*shakes Magic 8 Ball– –peers at window–\* BLOODY MARY BLOODY MARY BLOODY MARY ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/34 "2003-10-20T05:32:14Z")
Unfortunately, I don’t have any friends who take it seriously enough to just sit there and let the ideomotor effect work. They’re always deliberately pushing it to say stupid things. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/35 "2003-10-20T06:53:03Z")
I personally enjoy the theory in the [Skepdic.com](http://Skepdic.com) article that your friends are harboring nasty, vile thoughts and attributing them to evil spirits. Haven’t we all had those friends… 😃 Seriously…as far as Ouija boards go, I tried one as a kid at a slumber party and I don’t remember what we got from it…but I do remember telling my mother about it, and having her tell me, very sternly, NEVER to play with Ouija boards again. And I was sufficiently terrified by the Unknown Danger to do as I was told; I have yet to touch one since. [sub]No, of course I don’t BELIEVE in them…don’t be foolish…I just don’t know anyone who has one, and I don’t want to waste my money. Yes, that’s it.[/sub] Perhaps another trick would be to see if the spelling of the spirits was any improvement over the spelling of the players. Cuz I know lots of horrible spellers…I could gather them all up… ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/36 "2003-10-20T08:49:52Z")
I think they can be dangerous…not because of the ‘spirits’ that are summoned but by the susceptibility of (particularly) young users who take ouiji boards as serious stuff. I would not hesitate to have a fun night playing games on a board _with a bunch of mature people who understand that it is just a game_. But I have major reservations about more impressionable people who invest some sort of truth-value in the ‘messages’ that are delivered. In fact, when my daughter was 15 she wanted to have a ouiji party with a few friends. I said ABSOLUTELY NO WAY JOSE, but explained the reasons why, and she understood that hysterical young femmes are not a good combination with ouiji boards. Basically, I didn’t want to have to pick up the fragile pieces of decompensating teenage girls who took as verbatim the bulltish that was appearing on the board. So, it’s not the ‘board’ itself that is dangerous…it’s some of the people who use it that worries the bejesus out of me. ---
**Author:** ![Drastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/37 "2003-10-20T09:21:52Z")
I think they’re one of the (distressingly many) litmus tests for credulity in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/38 "2003-10-20T10:08:24Z")
They are so easy to manipulate, all it takes is one person who wants to have some fun with their friends. I exploited Ouija boards a lot when I was a teen. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/39 "2003-10-20T13:20:54Z")
Anybody see that episode of **Bullshit!** about Ouija boards? As I recall, the intro started out something like this: Penn: Hello, I’m Penn and this is Teller. Since we believe in division of labor, this week I will spend the episode debunking Ouja boards. And my partner, Teller, will spend his time…shooting fish in a barrel. (Camera pans over to Teller, who is, indeed, shooting fish in a barrel. And missing.) God, I love those guys. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385/40 "2003-10-20T13:30:54Z")
A show with Penn and Teller that I’ve never seen? Bah. Color me jealous. Oh yeah. And Oujia boards are full of cra- A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E-L-Y-A-C-C-U-R-A-T-E-I-N-F-O-R-M-A-T-I-O-N-T-H-E-S-P-I-R-I-T-S-C-O-M-P-E-L-L-Y-O-U-!-!-! A-L-S-O-T-H-A-T-B-O-Y-I-N-T-H-I-R-D-P-E-R-I-O-D-S-O-L-I-K-E-S-Y-O-U-J-E-N-N-Y-!-!-! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouiji-boards-what-do-you-think-about-them/208385.md?page=3)