# Who is Safer Playing with the Ouija Board? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 12, 2012, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269 "2012-01-12T10:32:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [January 13, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/61 "2012-01-13T00:27:14Z")
**robert\_columbia** , you misspelled “møøse”. And **Revtim** , I would expect that the fact that there are multiple people with their hands on the pointer would make it even _less_ mysterious. If two people have their hands on the thing, even if a demon _did_ move it, I’d expect that each person would just accuse the other of cheating. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/62 "2012-01-13T01:52:50Z")
> [@Theophane](#): > > Let me start by strongly recommending that **no one play with the Ouija Board under any circumstances ever!** We’ve all heard the stories. > [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > I haven’t heard the stories. What will happen if I play with a Ouija board? > [@Theophane](#): > > [Ouija Board Stories](http://www.squidoo.com/freakiest-ouijastories-ever) If that site had a counter on it, we’d be able to better evaluate your assertion that we’ve ALL heard the stories… ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/63 "2012-01-13T01:56:00Z")
> [@Theophane](#): > > Bingo! > [@Small\_Hen](#): > > Bingo should only be played by a level 12 cleric in possession of a silver amulet on the night of a new moon. Okay, that prit-near made me die laughing. For further developments on my reactions, please consult your nearest Ouija board. If you don’t make contact, it means I got better. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/64 "2012-01-13T02:47:42Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > > [@Gyrate](#): > > > > What if you’re playing with a Ouija board while alternately repeating “Bloody Mary” and “Candyman” into a mirror and then you receive a phonecall which turns out to be coming from inside the house and when you check the phone you find a bloody hook hanging from it? _ **WHAT THEN???** _ > > _That’s_ when you put on your shortie baby-doll nightie, pick up a malfunctioning flashlight, and go into the cellar (or the attic) and ask in a quavery voice, “_Hello?_ Is someone t_here?_” Then when he shows up, you pull a genre switch and kick the killer through the nearest wall. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Colossus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.colossus/32/9423_2.png) [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/65 "2012-01-13T05:27:11Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Like “squeel like a pig, boy!” deliverances?:eek: awesomely apt double answer: no, we weren’t catholic. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Colossus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.colossus/32/9423_2.png) [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/66 "2012-01-14T06:17:07Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > Bingo should only be played by a level 12 cleric in possession of a silver amulet on the night of a new moon. so well played. we need “like” buttons. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/67 "2012-01-14T06:26:25Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > The Ouija board box makes it clear that the thing is a _toy_, does it not? Are there people who are afraid a demon will possess them through their yo-yos or through Candyland? Well, when you put it that way, it almost sounds silly. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/68 "2012-01-14T06:29:01Z")
I am laughing out loud in a hotel room. It is 0130 EST. You people stop being so dang funny. Why not try a holiday in Sweden this year? ---
**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:** [January 14, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/69 "2012-01-14T20:57:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And **Revtim** , I would expect that the fact that there are multiple people with their hands on the pointer would make it even _less_ mysterious. If two people have their hands on the thing, even if a demon _did_ move it, I’d expect that each person would just accuse the other of cheating. Well, we’re primarily talking about kids, and adults who are stupid enough to think a board game sold in every toy store in American in the same section as ‘Hungry Hungry Hippos’ can communicate with demons and/or the dead. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/70 "2012-01-14T21:02:06Z")
Now wait a minute here! How do you KNOW that Hungry Hungry Hippos can’t be used to scry the future? Maybe the marbles could be numbered and then they could be counted after being eaten by the Hippos. You total up the numbers in each quarter and then go that way for dinner. What do y’all think? ETA: Oh yeah, I forgot, you have to align the board to cardinal points. And then sacrifice a virgin. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/71 "2012-01-14T21:43:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’ve never understood why anyone, of any stripe, pays any attention whatsoever to Ouija boards. I mean, when my mouse moves the cursor toward some icon or another on my computer screen, I don’t think that my mouse is possessed. My mouse is possessed - by me. That’s why I call it MY mouse. ---
**Author:** ![Theophane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@Theophane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theophane)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/72 "2012-01-14T23:11:39Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > My mouse is possessed - by me. That’s why I call it MY mouse. How can you “possess” an inanimate object if you are a living person? Telekinesis? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/73 "2012-01-14T23:45:16Z")
> [@Theophane](#): > > How can you “possess” an inanimate object if you are a living person? Telekinesis? …I prefer clear title. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/74 "2012-01-15T00:25:38Z")
For that matter, what’s so special about it? It’s a card with a bunch of letters and numbers on it. Why can’t a ghost/demon just type on my iPhone screen, or write a note if I leave a pen and paper out? Why do messages have to happen only in circumstances where other human beings can easily meddle with them (or, as I’d argue, make them up out of whole cloth, either singly or several in the group)? I mean, looking at the site Theophane linked, people are describing demon visitations, where their very life seemed to be at risk. Demons need something from Parker Brothers to cross into this mortal plane? Why?! If they’re so powerful and dangerous, why are they relying on a board game to be able to transcend time and space to escape Hell? I feel sad for any fully-functioning adult who can’t see through this. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/75 "2012-01-15T00:55:11Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > Demons need something from Parker Brothers to cross into this mortal plane? Why?! Because Parker Brothers is an agent of the Devil, obviously. I mean, they have to be or Ouija boards wouldn’t _work_, see? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/76 "2012-01-15T00:56:56Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > Demons need something from Parker Brothers to cross into this mortal plane? Why?! Because Milton-Bradley stuff just doesn’t work that well. ---
**Author:** ![CatherineZeta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@CatherineZeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineZeta)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/77 "2012-01-15T02:31:25Z")
It’s probably not safe to play with a Ouija board when you’re [horribly lonely](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq_-2ifLPtk). Did anyone see the Penn & Teller: Bullshit episode on Oujia boards where they attempt to contact the spirit of William Frawley, but the board doesn’t work when the subjects using it are blindfolded or the board’s upside down? ETA: I think in that episode they also make a big point of the fact that Ouija boards are manufactured by **Mattel**. ---
**Author:** ![slm2955](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@slm2955](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slm2955)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/78 "2012-01-15T02:41:02Z")
My older cousins used to have that game and would never let me play…they always used to kick me out the room :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/79 "2012-01-15T02:46:01Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > Since the population of the earth is 7 billion, we will need to put an error bar of plus or minus 1.4 E-10 on that. So the probability of demonic possession is approximately 0 plus or minus 1.4E-10. > > We will need to increase the sample size to reduce the error so we better get busy. I like the way you think! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269/80 "2012-01-15T03:46:27Z")
> [@Theophane](#): > > How can you “possess” an inanimate object if you are a living person? Telekinesis? Wait, you aren’t actually using a mouse you need to touch still, are you? I’ve been moving mine with my mind for ages. The only problem is that when the walls start bleeding, I get distracted and accidentally double post. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-safer-playing-with-the-ouija-board/609269.md?page=5)