# Quija Boards **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 25, 2000, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quija-boards/42699 "2000-11-25T23:27:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kriss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kriss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kriss)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quija-boards/42699/1 "2000-11-25T23:27:02Z")
What do you guys think of quija boards? Did any of you use them? Are they dangerous? I just ordered one from amazon and it will arrvive 3-4 days from now. I cant wait! Allot of people said they are dangerous and evil spirits attract to it. What do you guys think? Oh yeah sorry manhattan for posting that thread about active members. ---
**Author:** ![Kriss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kriss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kriss)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quija-boards/42699/2 "2000-11-25T23:33:29Z")
Oh yeah can you just play with it by yourself or do you need someone else too? ---
**Author:** ![Kriss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kriss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kriss)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2000, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quija-boards/42699/3 "2000-11-26T00:06:19Z")
why wont anyone respond? ---
**Author:** ![Stupendous\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Stupendous\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stupendous_man)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2000, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quija-boards/42699/4 "2000-11-26T00:18:09Z")
Ouija boards are used in divination and spiritualism. Some people believe that supernatural forces are at work in spelling out the answers to questions, but skeptics, such as myself, believe the more likely answer is that the pointer, called a “planchette” is actually moved by the persons controlling it. These movements are unnoticeable, and are called the ideomotor effect, the same effect at work in Dowsing. For those that would doubt the ideomotor effect, all that is required is to blindfold the users, and have the “spiritual” messages copied by a third party who is not using the board. Almost certainly, what results will be unintelligable gibberish. See this link for a history of the Ouija board. [http://www.museumoftalkingboards.com/history.html](http://www.museumoftalkingboards.com/history.html) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2000, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quija-boards/42699/5 "2000-11-26T01:06:28Z")
Oh I feel like an old member now! Here, Cecil did a column on it…that should tell you what you need to know… [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mouija.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mouija.html) Even though they are thought to be harmful, I know people who wouldn’t recommend using them. Also remember the board used in The Exorcist…_shudder_ Well, that’s all… ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2000, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quija-boards/42699/6 "2000-11-26T02:47:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kriss \* > \*\* > > Oh yeah sorry manhattan for posting that thread about active members. > \*\* And yet you post a question in this forum starting with “what do you guys think?” That belongs in IMHO. If you want to know if they are for real, _that_ is a General Question. The answer is “no.” If you want to poll the members, please open a thread in IMHO.