The Wonders of Ouija

Photo from: (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/board-games/)

 The Ouija board reassured Jimmy, the main focus of the biography, that he was important even when his life was dull and seemed to be going no where. The Ouija board encouraged him and gave him the answers he was looking for (Lurie 103-104). Others are able to find similar solace in the board’s ability to communicate. The Ouija board is able to give people something to believe in even when all else seems to fail. Even if the board now holds a negative evil stigma, people still use it to find comfort in difficult times because it allows them to deal with death and dying on a more physical level due to its communication abilities. The Ouija board's ability to directly communicate with its users allows it to be a source of hope and gives people a chance to believe in a higher power when their life isn’t what they believe it should be.

The ideometer effect is when all the people playing the board have small, unknown, undetectable muscle contractions causing the planchette to move around the board. Scientists believe they can study the unconscious mind with this technique. However, even these muscle contractions are so small that the person is not even aware that they are occurring, it is hard to solidify the fact that they access any part of our minds. This is also an extremely difficult concept to study scientifically; however, it is still an explanation that people believe.

This video, Top 5 Scariest Ouija Gone Bad Videos Caught on tape 2014, depicts 5 different Ouija experiences caught on tape. This video, aside from its intriguing horror, demonstrates how the Ouija board has remained such a popular tool that even today, people are using this device. The Ouija board’s original design has allowed it to withstand changing times and remain a popular source of entertainment and spiritual interaction since the nineteenth century. It’s ability to be so readily useable to the average person has allowed it to remain in existance through the years as a popular tool of communication. People are so fascinated with videos like this because it is a visual representation of a phenomenon and unbelievable activity occurring. Furthermore, people use the Ouija board, despite its negative stigma, because they are able to deal with death and dying through its legible communication.

(http://prohibitionclt.com)

The spiritualist movement took off about 1848 when the Fox sisters claimed to be receiving messages from the dead in the form of "rappings". This video highlights some important moments in American Spiritualism and even talks about how the Fox sisters admitted to their lies. 

Photo from (http://unbound.co.uk/books/conversations-with-spirits/updates/laars-head-s-seance-the-script)  

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1204977/taglines?ref_=tt_stry_tg

Do you believe them?

The new upcoming movie, Ouija, portrays this board in the more modern view that many people see it today. It is shown as a demonic, evil device that opens the gates to hell. This view of the Ouija board truly started when it was featured in the movie, "The Exorcist." However, despite these evil associations, people are still choosing the board as the primary means of spiritual communication because of its ability to readily communicate with the user. Furthermore, people utilize its power to make sense of death and dying and help them better deal with this unavoidable fate.

Photo from: ( http://www.worlditc.org/k_06_ouija.htm)