Approx 30cm dia.

Talking Boards

Talking boards have become an iconic part of culture, demonstrated by their appearances in many books and movies. Their roles in such vary from being a benign object to an evil entity. A more peculiar role of talking boards in literature stems from authors using the board to channel complete written works from the deceased. The first "Ouija" board was invented in 1890. Earlier talking boards (alphanumeric tables with rotating pointers), date to the 1850's

Although ouija boards are viewed by some to be a simple toy, there are people who believe they can be harmful, including Edgar Cayce, who called them "dangerous." Critics warn that "evil demons" pretend to be cooperative ghosts in order to trick players into becoming spiritually possessed.

Aleister Crowley has stated, of the Ouija Board, that, "There is, however, a good way of using this instrument to get what you want, and that is to perform the whole operation in a consecrated circle, so that undesirable aliens cannot interfere with it. You should then employ the proper magical invocation in order to get into your circle just the one spirit you want. It is comparatively easy to do this."

Who Controls the Planchette?

The Museum of Talking Boards articulates the two prevailing theories on how the Ouija works – the automatism theory and the spiritualist theory:

The Automatism Theory – The clinical term is “ideomotor response.” You may not know that you are moving the message indicator, but you are. This is similar to automatic writing, also know as automatism, a well-understood phenomenon. Mediums in years past, would hold a pencil in one hand and pay no attention as it wrote furiously. Some believed that these written messages came from the spirits. Others felt that the messages came from a clever medium. At any rate, most proponents of the Automatism Theory generally accept that it is very possible to move the planchette unconsciously. They claim that the Ouija board opens a kind of shortcut from the conscious to the subconscious mind. Collective automatism occurs when more than one person is operating the board.

The Spiritualist Theory – Ouija messages obviously come from forces beyond our control. You contact or “channel” these entities through the board. They are discarnate spirits, ghosts, or other ethereal beings who have a purpose for contacting the living. Many advocates of the Spiritualist Theory think that there is no harm in contacting the other realm because most spirits are basically benign and have important information to share. A few of these same advocates will perform elaborate cleansing rituals before using the board, just in case they run into a stinker. Other Spiritualist Theory supporters believe that no one should ever use the Ouija board. Malevolent forces can masquerade as good and cause emotional damage, even death to the user of the board. They offer as proof the many accounts of spirit possession reported by “experts” on the occult and demonology.

Ouija, Using It Without Harm says, “The Ouija can be a useful tool for mediumship (spirit contact), but can also be a tool to tap into the subconscious minds of the users. It is believed that we know more than we realize and often the answers are inside of us. In this way, it can be used to develop your own psychic powers without having to dig up some spirit of a questionable nature. The Ouija is what each person or group makes it.”

Tips for Use

* Begin by announcing that the session will only allow an experience that is positive or toward a higher good and that negative energies are not welcome.
* Don't ask for physical signs.
* When you're done, close the board. This is an important step. When you're done with your session, slide the planchette to 'GOODBYE' and remove your hands.