What is a Ouija board? Wikipedia says:
A Ouija board..., also known as a spirit/fire key board or talking board, is a flat board marked with the letters of the alphabet, the numbers 0-9, the words 'yes' 'no' and 'goodbye', and other symbols and words are sometimes also added to help personalize the board. Similarly pronounced Hindi word Ojha means the ones who deal with spirits. The Ouija board was invented as a means to deal with one's spiritual self, to access a part of the soul not usually accessed. However it is more commonly believed to be a way of communicating with spirits of the dead.Interesting Tidbits:
- The name Ouija is thought to be from the the French word oui and the German word ja.
- The first known use of automatic writing using a Ouija board was in China during the Song Dynasty around 1100 BC.
- It was introduced as a toy unrelated to the occult during the 1890s and popularized for it's purpose of communicating with spirits during World War I by Pearl Curran, a spiritualist.
What do you think about Ouija boards? Would you ever use one?
Much as I love the idea, I don't think I would no. I've no problem making my characters do it though!
ReplyDeleteI agree! I'd be fine with my characters doing, but me? No thanks. =)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely goes into my category of things not to mess with. This is great information though. I think it's really cool when people are knowledgeable about real world application of the paranormal, but I don't have the right skillset. :-) I like being a writer and staying an observer.
ReplyDeleteAs a teenager, I spent a couple of years in a boarding school, and at night we used to sneak from our rooms, escape to the top floor of the (old) building and play around with a DIY Ouija board (basically a glass and a bunch of pieces of paper).
ReplyDeleteIt was really exciting and we definitely had a couple of strange things happening, but it was hard to tell with the atmosphere up there and our lively imaginations, which of those were real.
Thanks for telling me about your experience, K.C.! Yeah, I have a pretty active imagination too. Probably another reason why I should stay away. I might get paranoid.
ReplyDeleteKinley, I totally agree. I like observing and learning about things, but I think I'd leave real world paranormal things up to professionals. :-D
ReplyDeleteMy friend and I used one in the basement when we were pre-teens and asked it who we'd marry. My answer was the letter W. I didn't remember this until many years after I married a man whose last name started with the letter W. True story. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm very superstitious and I won't allow a Ouija board in my house. They're just as likely to attract evil spirits as good ones and I'm not taking any chances.