Ouija boards, psychics, etc.

I put the because it looks really scary. That's not a grin it's a grimace....and yes, it's true.

I have never tried this, but I have heard that it takes very little pressure from any of the people with their finger on the glass to send it off - it is because of everyone's light touch and the polished table underneath.

It just takes someone to think of a letter for them to subconsciously move the tiniest bit in that direction and the glass obediently follows, then the next letter of a relevant word suggests itself and the glass shoots off to that.

If the message seems to be making sense, then more of those present can imagine where it might go next, they think of the letters, and Bingo! they get something that seems like a "message from beyond".

And, of course, if someone is feeling mischievous, they can influence the message very easily!

Tried one as teenager. Glass spun around and few off the table. Don’t know how it happened since four of us only had one finger on the glass. My mum came in and went ballistic at us.

I only had one experience of a ouija board, when, in my late teens, at a get together with a few friends, one of them produced a board. I was never completely convinced that what occurred was not subject to an element of manipulation, but the "messages" seemed to be gobbledegook, and what would have been the point of that (although alcohol had been consumed!). Only one message came through that one of our number thought related to her fiancée, and she found rather unsettling, but later proved to have no foundation. We never tried it again. I met the girl who had the board later in the Far East, of all places, when she was married to an upwardly mobile civil servant attached to the High Commissioner's office and living in some style. They invited us to supper, and the first thing she said to me before I met her DH, was "please don't mention the ouija board!"

Surely no one would put a after such a story if it were true!

... or is it ...

Anya....... a good Halloween tale there, convincingly told! will anyone believe it?

I agree BlueBelle this sort of thing has an effect on vulnerable people and can be quite damaging. As to psychics and Spiritualism I think if something gives comfort to people and is not exploiting anyone then it's not a problem.
I did speak to someone several years ago after my son in law died and he told me things that were so true. It was hard to see how he knew these quite minor things but it was a comfort. I might add he did not charge for this.
There are more things in heaven and earth etc

I m with you Whitewave bunkum may mess with already damaged minds though because we believe what we want to believe
After my best friends sister died she went to a psychic and guess what everything she wanted to hear about her sister being safe and happy was told to her in many roundabout ways Psychics are clever and manipulative this one said I see books around her, a totally innocuous statement that could be said about anyone, but of course my friend whose sister was a teacher was convinced he was talking to her sister I swear if he'd said I see a tv in her room she would have believed too at that point in time

Whatever has got into people on this thread it must be the Halloween influence!

It is all sheer bunkum

Great fun back in the seventies though. We spent many a fuelled night with friends sitting cross legged around a coffee table with our fingers lightly resting on an upturned wine glass. We used scrabble tiles for the letters with The Doors providing a bit of background atmosphere.

I had one rule though....NEVER in our house which was a fifteenth century cottage in Suffolk close to the site of a battlefield.

I'm not THAT daft!!

I can see how people could get seriously enough spooked by it to become very disturbed. Yes I used to play these games as well when I was sharing a flat.
I could be tempted to go to a a psychic just to see what happens. I do lean towards being sceptical about such things which have no good evidence.
If you do something that is generally thought of as being scary you are already opening your mind to these ideas.

but I believe that the Ouija opens the door to good and evil entities

Most people I know who fully believe in the spirit world believe that only bad comes from ouija and will only use other means of communication.

Anya that is so tragic , whatever it is about them they really get under people's skin and into their psyche

The outcome is all the same whether you believe it's spirits or group hysteria or self hypnosis or whatever - it's dangerous! steer clear!

I've never heard of any stories of people having good luck or joy or comfort from ouija. Charlatins psychics, arguably, yes! but not oiuja!

Beware!

My late mother and her friends indulged in summoning the Unknown in sessions with a Ouija board. Whatever she stirred up and invited into her life took it over. She became delusional, thought the devil was speaking to her, telling her to kill. She felt she was possessed, and she certainly acted as if she was.

She was diagnosed with schizophrenia, which was the only way the medical profession rationalise her hearing voices, but despite medication she took her own life a few years later.

I inherited her house, a lovely big, detached Victorian house, but I could not live there. Any time you entered you could almost feel whatever it was that had taken up residence. It took ages to sell it, and it has been on the market time and time again since then.

Be warned, there is more out there than we can ever know and some of it is pure evil

I'm not religious in the traditional sense but I believe that the Ouija opens the door to good and evil entities. Whether they are external entities or part of our own psyches is debatable. So little is understood about the power of the mind...who knows what lies within us.

with everyone participating there's nobody to "anchor" those for whom the hysteria becomes overwhelming

I think amateur hypnosis/mind bending of any kind can be dangerous for anyone even if they don't go into it in a vulnerable state tbh!

It can potentially affect anyone badly

and with ouija the thing is that nobody can "break" conact, so there's no one "spotting" the ones who are being affected like you often have with like LSD or magic mushrooms

If folk are in a vulnerable state, e.g. recently bereaved, then psychics/ouija etc. can be damaging and quite insidious. I do not believe in a spirit world so do think psychics can be con merchants at worst and foolish at best.

I think what the ouija does, is tap into our brain somehow, we allow it to, and we make up answers, ( Persian...rug) when we play it as a game.However, yes, it could be dangerous simply because we allow our psyche to open up.Fascinating stuff, but probably best left alone.

We used the ouija board a few times at college - even though it made us quite nervous.
One girl refused to join us again because it told her that someone she knew would be killed in an accident (I never knew whether that happened or not).

The last time we used it the glass flew across the table and smashed on the floor. It had just warned us to 'beware of methyl ethane'
Our 'Guide' said he was Persian
He said his name was 'Rug' (I am not joking)


However, the college padre did warn us not to meddle in things beyond our understanding.

ana

I don't believe in spirits talking to us

but I do believe hat ouija boards are incredibly dangerous.

I think they tap into something.. I guess it's a bit like being hypnotised by someone without proper training.. it's not good and I think they can do psychological damage to users.

I don't know how, maybe the process triggers the parts of the brain that LDS do.. and can really mess people up/ leave people disturbed.

Nothing good can come of it, they're not even "comforting" because it's not like when people think they're talking to grandad through a charlatan psychic. the ouija is darker

That's a relief, whitewave!

That should have read gullible!!!!

I think it is total rubbish. Harmless fun for some but best avoided if you are of a culpable personality.