The Ouija board is one of the more modern forms of the ancient art of channeling, divination and talking to spirits. Some people consider the Ouija board a fun opportunity to find out information, while others see it as a frightening portal through which demons may enter and possess a person.

The truth, as usual, lies somewhere between the two extremes. Ouija boards can be quite useful tools for divination, but they should be handled with care and respect.

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HOW THE BOARD WORKS

The board in itself does not have any power. Scribbling the alphabet on a board does not make it magical, or every schoolhouse in history would have been packed with spooks.

The board is a tool in that it simply is what you use to help yourself become receptive to the messages that spirits are sending through your subconscious.

Horror movies would have you believe the plachette (the small disk on the board that moves around to point to the letters) can fly on its own accord. You’re actually moving the planchette the vast majority of the time—you’re doing it subconsciously.

It’s similar to automatic writing, in which you relax yourself and your consciousness enough to allow the spirit to manipulate your actions. The spirit takes advantage of this to send messages.

IS THE OUIJA BOARD EVIL? SCARY? DANGEROUS?

Many rumors abound (completely with friend-of-a-friend stories) that imply the Ouija board is a dangerous thing. You’ll hear tales of tables being overturned, grunts and growls following people home, and demonic possessions following Ouija board sessions.

The truth is, the Ouija board is just not that dangerous. The bigger problem is that the idea of talking to ghosts scares people. When people get scared, they get jumpy (knocking things over, like tables and planchettes).

Your imagination runs away with you when you get scared and you’re more likely to see or hear perfectly natural things and interpret them as ghosts. The biggest threat with the Ouija board is fear itself—scared people tend to do clumsy or irrational things.

SO THE OUIJA BOARD IS SAFE, THEN?

While it’s highly unlikely that you’ll run into a serious threat with the Ouija board, it shouldn’t be taken lightly. You are trying to make contact with an otherworldly being—you don’t want ‘just anyone’ answering your invitation. This would be like throwing open your front door and yelling, “Hey, does anyone want to come in and chat for a while?”

An old acquaintance may answer the call, or a perfectly lovely neighbor. On the other hand, the local vagrants, mischief makers or criminals may seize the opportunity.

Some may want to just play with your head (for their own entertainment) and you might even be unlucky enough to have someone come along who does mean to do you harm.

This is why it’s best to take precautions if you are going to use the Ouija board.

SO, SHOULD I USE THE BOARD?

If you want to give the Ouija board a try, you will probably live to tell about it like the millions of others who use it on a regular basis.

Learning to shield yourself with white light, call your guardian angels or spirits to protect you, using protective crystals or sprinkling holy water or salt in the area are some ways you can protect yourself from anything malevolent.

You can also protect yourself by not playing spooky music, lighting black candles and dressing in some strange witchy costumes—the less you work up your imagination, the more likely you’ll have a pleasant experience.