Are Ouija boards harmless children's toys, or tools of the devil?

Are Ouija boards harmless children’s toys, or tools of the devil?

By Patti Wigington, About.com Guide

 

The Ouija board is one of the most controversial forms of divination.

Question: Are Ouija boards harmless children’s toys, or tools of the devil?

I bought a Ouija board because I want to talk to spirits. My dad says it’s a tool of the Devil but I think I’ll be fine. What do you think?

Answer:

Erm… well, I’m going to let the whole “devil” bit slide, but let’s look at this a bit more in depth, shall we?

Here’s the problem with a Ouija Board — anyone can use one, and no skill is required. In other words, the thing that makes the Ouija Board so easy to use is also what can make it potentially troublesome. Toy and game companies sell them by the thousands, but most people don’t realize exactly what they are. Are they evil? No, no more than your Monopoly board is. Are they dangerous? Well, in the hands of someone who’s untrained — or an idiot — they could be. Look at it as a spiritual version of the chat room, if that helps. There’s nothing at all wrong with talking to thirty strangers… until one of them turns out to be a serial killer or a pedophile. And the thing is, you don’t KNOW who is what when you enter that room. Same with a Ouija board.

A Ouija Board is, quite simply, a divinatory tool. Its purpose is to answer a question by inviting spirits to speak to the people using the board. There’s no guarantee that anything will happen at all… but there’s also no way to control what DOES happen.

The use of a Ouija board is a form of voluntary possession. In order to get the spirit to contact you through the planchette, you basically have to give up your will — it’s the only way for them to work through you. The spirit isn’t moving the planchette, but it’s causing you to move it with your hands by way of possession. Once you’ve opened up the Ouija board, it’s a crapshoot as to what’s going to try to make contact — you don’t know who or what is moving that planchette around, or what its purpose is.

The bottom line — if you’re unsure about what you’re doing, or inexperienced with dealing with spirits, you may want to find some other method of divination that doesn’t involve voluntary possession.