If you’ve ever watched horror films or even had a paranormal sense of curiosity, you might have heard about a game known as an Ouija Board. Originally marketed as family fun for all, this game eventually ended up sparking huge debates amongst paranormal enthusiasts on what its intentions truly mean. While some have dismissed its capabilities and deemed it safe, others have said this game can open doors to things that we just have yet to fully understand.
What IS an Ouija Board
An Ouija board is a game that is also known as a spirit board, dial board, or most commonly referred to as a talking board. The board is a flat surface that was made out of wood (later out of plastic in some cases), that contains all of the letters of the alphabet, numbers, and the words yes, no, and goodbye. The planchette piece (the French word for little plank) is a seemingly directional heart-shaped object that is guided by both the living and the non-living. For homemade Ouija boards, tea cups were used, and even overturned wine glasses.
For dial plate talking boards, a pointer shaped like a needle was set to the center and rotated to the letters that were designated. These boards were round unlike the typical rectangle shape most commonly seen. The letters were set up to be circular and around the board in the same kind of design.
No matter what shape was presented, this board made claims of being able to connect the spirit world to our world by allowing spirits to communicate with us more easily and clearly. For the typical design, the users gather by the board and all place their hands on the planchette, or cup while being guided by spirits. As questions are asked by the participants, the plank begins to softly guide its way to either spell out a word, glide over the yes or no sections, or even decide to end the session by resting over the word goodbye.
The entire session is called a seance. A seance is performed by people who seek out answers from the dead or ghostly spirits. By using this board, people can connect to loved ones who have passed or even get questions answered about what’s on the other side. Although deemed as pure entertainment, there are many who feel this truly opens the door, not only to the spirits we seek out but for all entities to make their way into our world.
Origins & History
Ancient History & Culture
Ouija Boards didn’t always have the name they have today, but the concept dates as far back as 1100 AD in China. Some say that this “spirit writing” dates back even as far as 551 AD but the true time frame is still questionable among experts. In China, Fuji was the official term used when referring to using this type of method to contact spirits. During the Ming Dynasty, a suspended sieve was used over a tray to guide a stick to begin writing in ashes or even sand.
This method was said to summon not just any spirit, but the spirit of Zigu which can also be referred to as the Purple Maiden. This practice began to flourish and grow with altars being built to honor it. However, it eventually was looked down upon during the Quing Dynasty, but Daoists still continued the long-honored practice. This can even be found today in use in Taiwan, Malaysia, and even Hong Kong.
Spiritualist Movement
Fascination with the paranormal dates back many centuries but this seemingly harmless game as we know it today dates back more specifically to 1886. With the civil war ending, the great number of casualties, and so many left behind, mediums were in high demand as people ached to talk to the loved ones they lost or who never came home. People sought comfort by seeking mediums, psychics, and anyone who could give them answers about life after death.
Are they safe?
Are they in heaven?
Do they have a message for me?
These were all often pondered during these periods of immense grief. In fact, there were 3 mediums called the Fox sisters in New York, who were rumored to have a direct connection to the other side. It was said they were using a homemade spirit board to make this connection along with using their self-professed gifts. These sisters were very well-known during the Spiritualist Movement and gave seances to hundreds of people seeking that afterlife connection. Although these sisters later confessed to being fraudulent and then recanted their confessions, spirit boards continued to gain momentum as a tool to speak to anyone on the other side.
Shady Business
In the wake of the Spiritualist movement, two gentlemen seemed destined to meet on a new adventure when both came across the idea of making a spirit board into a marketable item. Charles Kennard was the child of a successful Delaware merchant. He moved to Maryland to market “secret” fertilizer recipes and had a known reputation as being quite the shady businessman, unlike his father. It was there that he met a Prussian immigrant and coffin maker named E.C Reiche who shared an adjacent office with him. Also working as a profitable undertaker, Reiche understood that there was a connection between the living and the non-living since his line of work dealt with both.
After coming across numerous newspaper articles covering the spirit boards and seances in Ohio, these two gentlemen both saw the signs, and by that, I mean the dollar signs…not the paranormal signs. Reiche put his hard work and coffin-making woodwork skills to use by creating and naming the Ouija Board.
Being his shady self and using the salesman charming skills he was used to, Charles takes off with the idea in 1890 and claims it for himself. Mr. Kennard even claimed that the Ouija Board named itself from an Egyptian phrase meaning “Good Luck”. The truth was that it actually came from two other words (both French and German) that mean yes. French is “Oui” and German is “Ja.”
No matter where the name truly came from he pitched the idea to anyone who will listen with the hopes of claiming the Ouija Board solely as his own design. Unfortunately for him, no one was paying attention because the idea itself was not new at all and his reputation preceded him. At long last Elijah Bond came to the rescue and approved the patent claiming he was inspired to push the idea through due to his sister having skills as a medium herself. Enter into the scene, Mrs. Peters. Helen Peters was a known medium and was even rumored to have a role in naming it before Kennard’s prior claims.
On October 30, 1890, the Kennard Novelty Company is established and the patent is claimed by Charles Kennard and William Maupin. What better day to launch than on Halloween, Needing to make another quick buck since the fertilizer business wasn’t paying off, the rights and interest were sold leaving out E.C. Reiche completely. Karma eventually stepped in and Kennard was dismissed from his own company.
The Demand, Rise & Fall
The Kennard company did so well selling the new Ouija Boards that eventually it changed its name to the Ouija Novelty Company. Business was good with William Fuld in charge, and it seemed as if every home was encouraged to participate in this family fun seance for all. William Fuld even became dubbed as “The Father of the Ouija” since he was credited for its rising popularity even though he himself dismissed it as having any powers at all.
Soon enough, the market erupted and for $1.50, you too could be the proud owner of your very own Ouija The Talking Board in your home. Newspapers exploded with advertisements and Friday evenings became family fun seance night for many with family & friends gathering in the other’s homes. One of the most popular places to find these novelty items was in popular catalogs.
Kennard was furious, and being greedy as well as bitter, attempted to have the last laugh as he started a rival company producing yet another version of the Ouija Board called the Volo talking board. This created a vigorous lawsuit that put Kennard out of business yet again. Yet ANOTHER company stepped in once more, wanting to capitalize on the Ouija Board making their own Espirito. They even went as far as printing their logo on the back of the Ouija Boards already on the market. Way to go on not looking suspicious at all!
Who had the last laugh? No one! The movement began to play itself out like a social media trend would today and all companies fizzled out with it. Sadly, William Fuld met his own demise after a fall from the top of the roof of his very own factory that is was rumored that the Ouija Board advised him to build. The original Ouija board company even caught fire, destroying everything with it. You’d think they would have seen it coming right?! Right?!
Was this some sort of curse or maybe the spirits intervened? No matter how you view it, it sure didn’t seem like Ouija Boards were meant to be on the mass market even though they were eventually marketed as games or even novelty items. Now they can be found marketed the same way in stores, on Amazon, or anywhere you can find paranormal interest.
Influence & Perception
As most would agree, spirits are people who have passed away and as their essence/energy/presence remains it’s natural for anyone who is grieving to want to talk to them or perhaps even say goodbye for their own personal closure. A seance is one way to do this and an Ouija board gives even more clarification with clear words that all users can see instead of just being communicated by the medium. Also with hiring a medium, this meant putting a lot of trust in someone to hear or relay possibly very personal information.
For some even affording a medium is out of the budget while a cost-effective board game seemed to be harmless. After all, it was marketed as fun for family and friends, and watching the pointer (planchette) jump to spell out answers, most had a great time at home. Even the Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi claims its use was helpful to recover Aldo Moro from the Red Brigades.
Others who spoke highly of the game were writers such as Pearl Curran and poet James Merrill. They both claimed that using this talking board gave them great inspiration for their writing and their work. Pearl even states that a spirit by the name of Patience Worth communicated with them through this very method for well over 20 years.
Beyond writing novels and poetry, the age of television began to emerge. Popular Television shows like I Love Lucy showed it as something to do for fun which brought laughs to almost every home watching. Lucy wouldn’t promote anything dark or terrifying, so why wouldn’t viewers go out and get one for themselves?! Other popular shows that included spirit boards as jovial parts of the plot were The Waltons, and Lost in Space.
With all of the television shows, newspapers, and people recommending this game to their neighbors in line at the grocery store, Ouija Boards only grew in their popularity. As a matter of fact, they even outsold Monopoly games at one point. No one was talking about what would happen in their homes after using it and no one certainly ever referred to it as something evil. No one ever experienced a haunting with landing on Park Avenue with the little shoe piece.
Fear & Controversy
Ouija Boards have stirred up controversy from the very beginning although it wasn’t talked about like it was today. It was marketed as a game for fun but after strange occurrences began happening in homes and buildings after the seances, people began to wonder if they should be playing at all. Even skeptics began to agree that maybe there was something on the other side that shouldn’t be played with, to begin with.
Initially, communing with the dead wasn’t even seen as Taboo. It was something we have all done since the beginning of time practically. Once the Ouija Board made it’s way into our everyday culture, not everyone was a huge fan or even agreed to it being in their home. Some religious groups dismissed it almost immediately and associate it with dark practices.
Ouija Boards in Horror Films
With many having some paranormal experiences that made them uncomfortable after their spirit sessions with the board, the world of film and cinema decided to use these fears as inspiration to create horror films. In 1944 The Uninvited features a brother and sister who purchase a house with a terrible past and use a seance to uncover the dark spirits who reside there.
This fear-inducing phenomenon continued with a movie that is still listed by many as one of the scariest of all time, The Exorcist. In 1973 there was a lot to be feared with cults being featured and serial killers who focused on ritualistic as well as sadistic murders. Satanic cults were making people lock their doors for the first time and get home early before sunset. When The Exorcist hit the theaters, these fears were confirmed when the main character became possessed after her use of the Ouija Board.
Now that this game became a demonic tool to viewers, more films began to run with it. Another popular film series in the ’80s was known as The Witchboard. This featured a similar theme as the others with two people suddenly becoming haunted by dark entities after their use of the Ouija Board.
Churning quickly into the 90’s the trend continued with the Sorority House Massacre where young sorority girls are innocently using an Ouija Board, only to open a door that leads to horror. In 2007 enter What Lies Beneath uses the board to contact a murderer. That couldn’t possibly go south! Right?! One of the more popular horror films that tackles Ouija Board use is of course Paranormal Activity. After the use of the board for only one night, many nights of dark terror ensue that eventually leads to an entire series.
Murder & Mayhem
Beyond cinematic experiences having people question their use being directed at “having a fun time”, others began to claim the Ouija Board opened them to dark experiences. Some even claimed to have been influenced by this game to commit murder. For example, Joshua Tucker was convicted of murder after claims by his mother were made that he was possessed by the devil when using the Ouija Board in his room late one night.
In another instance, the Ouija Board was not blamed for causing the murder but for actually solving the murder itself. In London, jurors had contacted the murder victim himself who told them that it was in fact a completely different person altogether who murdered him. The newly named person was convicted, tried, and sentenced to life.
Dorothea Mattie was only 15 years old when she shot her father Ernest directly in the back. Although she initially claimed it to be an accident, she later changed her story to include her mother and an Ouija Board session. She suddenly claimed the spirit world told her in her session to end her father’s life so that she could marry a man that would make her happier. Not sure what that means but a jury convicted her and her judgment was later reversed.
Religious Objections
Anything dealing with the afterlife can always be seen as controversial, especially among those with deep-rooted religious beliefs that dispel those types of practices. This can seem confusing since most religious texts cover quite a few prophets and such speaking to people on the other side. Although talking to the dead has been a long-covered practice, many religions feel it can be a doorway that we shouldn’t be opening at all.
As a matter of fact, there are quite a few Christian denominations that dismiss ANY use of Ouija Boards altogether. Why, you may ask? Some Christians state that all answers should come from God, and asking any supposed “spirits” are forbidden. This is due to the fact that many Christians feel that these are not our loved ones at all, but instead are demons trying to use trickery to get us to do their bidding. One of their strongest reference points is Deuteronomy 18:10-12 from the Christian bible which highlights the use of witchcraft and spells being detestable in the eyes of the Lord.
Those in the Catholic religion have similar quarrels with the Ouija Board and its use as well. Seeking “divination” from anywhere other than God, the Saints, or prophets is seen as demonic. Catholics have never nor will they ever approve of anything that resembles witchcraft or communing with demons in another world for answers to any questions at all. The same bible reference is also used as well.
Other religions such as Lutheran, and other religious skeptics pretty much align with the same belief that Ouija Boards are dangerous. Many of them have gone to great lengths to warn against them and have encouraged prior users to burn them for their own safety. Whether or not this can remedy any harm or close any open doors, many who have delved into this practice have followed suit to keep their loved ones safe.
Does it Even Work?
With such alternating rising and falling popularity, the Ouija Board is always striking up the heated debate with even its very name mentioned. With entire religions banning its usage and many families heeding extreme caution to even allow it through the front door, people often find themselves questioning its validity. Is this simply an entertaining game, can this be a tool to open dangerous gateways, or is this harmless communication with loved ones from the past?
To begin with, Ouija Boards were marketed as mystical and oracles to give answers to questions that only those on the other side could deliver. As time went on they were sold as purely entertainment and great for parties. As we mentioned before, this was due largely to the fact that even William Fuld was not initially a believer beyond it being a fun party game to have guests over for. For some users, they absolutely swore by its results. Some went so far as to claim the spirits gave them answers to things that no one else could possibly have prior knowledge of even with those present who were participating.
Science Says…
Anytime we come across something fascinating, we can’t help but wonder, “But what does science say about that?” Fact-finding and truth-seeking are always natural when anyone experiences something that seems too good to be true or beyond our understanding. If you have wondered the same thing, you certainly aren’t alone. Many have examined the science behind the Ouija Board to uncover if or how this mystic object even works.
Photo Engraving of Michael Faraday, 1973
In the 1800’s this phenomenon was so intriguing that an English philosopher named Michael Faraday took a great interest in unraveling the mystery behind the game. Michael Faraday is credited to this day with his discoveries on electromagnetic induction, electrolysis, and more. The theory he presented for Ouija Board usage was due to the ideomotor response. This essentially states that this psychological response causes a person to move things without using conscious thinking. This can be compared to a reflex response when using the planchette to “find” answers and is consistent with their heart’s desires to know things that were previously veiled.
This entire concept was originally written by William Benjamin Carpenter who wrote a scientific paper on the entire matter in 1852 reflecting these very ideals. In fact, his friend James Braid was the founder of our modern type of Hypnotism as its known today. Braid inspired him to delve deeper and uncover that due to the deep desire for answers and concentration of the subject using the Ouija Board, the person/persons using the board will move the pointer toward desired answers using very little conscious thought. Their results concluded that the planchette moving on its own was simply an illusion due to the users of the seance being in a dissociative state and unconsciously aware of their own hand movements.
Faraday, a mentalist known as the Amazing Kreskin, and Illusionist Derren Brown even used a plain piece of paper with yes or no answers written on it to test this theory as well. A handheld pendulum was used in place of a planchette but gave similar results that seemed to lean towards this theory holding much validity but much disappointment to many mystics who still dispelled these tests. Many mediums and others dispute these results due to their own experiences. Many scholars went as far as to say the Ouija Board was simply a con to play on those who are either grieving or who are susceptible to primitive beliefs.
Another great mind by the name of Chris French had his own experience with testing an Ouija board he made himself at home with friends. Chris being a professor emeritus of psychology at Goldsmiths University of London, had a curious nature to begin with but also wanted to test the theories that had been presented long before his time. He concluded it was great fun, but didn’t feel that after using the Ouija Board that he had any communication with any spirits at all.
Summary
In the 1800’s the emergence of the Ouija Board came out and stirred up plenty of controversies as the Spiritualist movement was in full swing. Even with a history clouded in back-stabbing, thievery, and sadly death as well, this spirit board had many issues surrounding it that gave cause for much concern for all involved. Originally spirit boards were a deeper way to connect to loved ones for many centuries and then it simply became known as a game for profit.
Many users claimed to be inspired by Ouija Boards, even giving them credit for their acclaimed work. Others felt less inspired to do great things but instead, commit atrocious acts claiming that the board gave them dastardly instructions. Some even professed it opened up spiritual portals that couldn’t be closed and began to cause havoc in their lives, while yet others felt it truly gave them the answers or closure they needed during their grieving process.
Scientists had their own theories when it came to the Ouija Board use. Most felt that its movement could be explained using simple psychology explaining that we subconsciously moved the pointer ourselves without even knowing it. Others felt that the game was simply a con meant as a tool to pray upon those who were desperate for answers. For many religions, it was completely dismissed as satanic or a tool for the occult.
Conclusion
Ouija Boards can be seen with so many different perceptions depending on your background and even possibly your faith. For me personally, I used one for fun as a teenager only once and it didn’t see any harm whatsoever. However, I’ve seen many friends who have sworn by its results and would never touch one again. I personally don’t condone them! Any object can be used for good or bad. A pencil can be an incredible tool to write a best-selling novel or could be used as a weapon to harm an enemy. It’s all in the intent and the user. When we find ourselves seeking to open doors, we can't always be sure about who or what we let in, so I’d recommend leaving it alone.
With such a dark and shaded history, I feel like the Ouija Board can stay on the shelf and far from my home if I have a say so. For others, I say to heed my warning. Would you Ouija or would you not? I’d say the doors here will stay closed, locked, and saged as far as I’m concerned.
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