The Ouija Board: Is It Really Evil? Why don’t ghost hunting groups use it to contact ghosts?

MENTION THE USE of a Ouija board to a paranormal research group these days and you’ll get a lot of head shaking and statements about “opening portals” and “demonic entities”. Mention it to religious fundamentalists and you’ll practically see them shudder and back away on shaky legs, as if the board was created by Satan himself as a means of enslaving human souls.
How did the Ouija board and similar “talking boards” get this reputation?

Is it deserved? How is it different than other methods of spirit communication?

EVIL? SAYS WHO?
The talking board has been around for well over 100 years. Its most popular incarnation today is the Ouija board, marketed by Hasbro. There have been many editions over the years and several imitators, but the concept is always the same: a board on which are printed letters and numbers; a planchette or pointer that spells out answers to questions when the users place their fingertips on it.
Marketed as a toy, the Ouija has been a best-seller for decades. When I was a kid, it was seen as a harmless, if mysterious and somewhat spooky diversion. It was especially used around the Halloween season when thoughts turn to ghosts and the unknown. We never took it very seriously, however. If it did spell out answers, each user suspected the other of making the pointer do it... or maybe – just maybe – it was moved by g-g-g-ghosts! But we never had the notion that it was controlled by demons.
This seems to be a relatively new idea.

Where did this literal demonization of the Ouija board come from? I can’t say with 100 percent certainty, but I think this idea came from (or at least was popularized by) The Exorcist, both the book and the movie. In this work of fiction, pre-teen Regan tells her mother she’s been using the Ouija board by herself, conversing with someone named Captain Howdy. Shortly thereafter, she becomes possessed by the Devil.

Subsequent movies such as Witchboard, The Craft, and others further promoted the idea that the Ouija was a conduit to dark forces. Previous to these Hollywood productions, the Ouija was not generally regarded in this way. But the idea was also latched onto by many Christian fundamentalists, who tend to consider just about anything they don’t agree with as the work of Satan.
Then many paranormal researchers also came around to this way of thinking, but I've never come across any convincing evidence that would lead to this position. Yes, we’ve all heard the horror stories from people who claim to have serious negative experiences with the board. (In fact, you can read some of them in this site’s Tales of the Ouija section. Hey, a good story is a good story.) But how many of them can be verified? And how many of the tales are the products of active, highly suggestive, and eager-for-drama teenage imaginations? Yet the majority of paranormal investigators today will advise you not to use a Ouija board, taking the same stance as books such as Stoker Hunt’s Ouija: The Most Dangerous Game.

DEMONS OR THE SUBCONSCIOUS?
For the sake of argument, however, let’s say that at least some of these tales of terror are true. Some of them might be. Should we blame the board? Or should we blame the people using the board? In other words, where is this negativity really coming from? Is it coming from a demon, who I guess we have to assume is sitting around with nothing better to do, waiting for teenagers to sit down at a Ouija board to scare the crap out of them with a selection of supernatural antics? Or is it more likely that any effects – supernatural or not – arise out of the energized subconscious of the users?
If you read related articles of mine on this subject, you’ll know that I do not buy in to the notions of demons and possession. These are ancient superstitions – completely made up – for which there is no reasonable evidence. The idea of the Devil was created by humans to help humans explain to ourselves the evil that humans do. The sad truth is, however, that we create our own evil in the world. We’re responsible for it, not some discarnate demon. We create it, just as we create good in the world.
And what of the supernatural aspects? Just as it is now commonly accepted among most paranormal researchers that poltergeist activity – objects moved telekinetically, bangs on walls, and the rest of it – is created by the subconscious of a person or persons, so too can any extraordinary manifestations in a Ouija session be credited to the subconscious. Why is it often so negative? Because that is often the expectation of the users involved. Intention creates reality.

Next page: The Ouija and ghost hunting

Why don’t ghost hunting groups use it to contact ghosts?

By Stephen Wagner

Paranormal Phenomena Expert

Is the Ouija board dangerous?

Question: Is the Ouija board dangerous?
Answer: Most paranormal researchers advise against the casual use of the Ouija board, suggesting that it can be a doorway to unknown dimensions. “The board itself is not dangerous, but the form of communication that you are attempting often is," says Ghost researcher Dale Kaczmarek of the Ghost Research Society. "Most often the spirits whom are contacted through the Ouija are those whom reside on 'the lower astral plane.' These spirits are often very confused and may have died a violent or sudden death; murder, suicide, etc. Therefore, many violent, negative and potentially dangerous conditions are present to those using the board. Often times several spirits will attempt to come through at the same time but the real danger lies when you ask for physical proof of their existence!

You might say, 'Well, if you're really a spirit, then put out this light or move that object!' What you have just done is simple, you have 'opened a doorway' and allowed them to enter into the physical world and future problems can and often do arise."

But what if the Ouija really does not contact spirits? What if it only accesses our own subconscious? The advice might be the same. Since there are realativly few accounts of positive, uplifting experiences with the Ouija, and many negative ones, we might assume that it more attuned to the negative aspects of our subconscious.
If you're determined to use the Ouija anyway, it is highly recommended that you follow some rules of precaution:

• Begin by announcing that the session will only allow an experience that is positive or toward a higher good and that negative energies are not welcome.
• Don't ask for physical signs.
• When you're done, close the board. This is an important step. When you're done with your session, slide the planchette to 'GOODBYE' and remove your hands. 

http://paranormal.about.com/cs/ouijaboards/f/blfaq_ouija01.htm?utm_source=exp_nl&utm_medium=email&utm_term=list_paranormal&utm_campaign=list_paranormal&utm_content=20150622

Borley Rectory

Borley Rectory was once called the “Most Haunted House in England.” It was the subject of a best-selling book and became a media sensation in the 1930s.

Borley Rectory – Early History of the Building

 

Borley Rectory in Eastern Essex was constructed in 1863 by the Reverend Henry Bull. By all accounts, it was not an attractive building, but it was large, with 23 rooms spread over two floors and a spacious attic and cellar. Almost from the time when the Reverend Bull and his family first moved in, the house appears to have been haunted. The ghost seen most often by the family was that of a nun, though a ghostly horse-drawn carriage was also witnessed from time to time. Exactly who the nun might have been was not known, but local stories circulated of a nun who had attempted to elope with a monk in the Middle Ages. In one account, both were caught, the monk hanged, and the nun buried alive; in another, the monk strangled the nun after the two had a falling out.
Henry Bull died in 1892 and his son Harry succeeded him as rector. The haunting continued as before. By now, the building’s spooky reputation had spread throughout the community and, when Harry Bull died in 1927, finding a replacement rector proved to be quite difficult. In fact, the rectory was to remain unoccupied for a whole year until the Reverend Guy Eric Smith and his wife moved in.
Having previously been sceptical of the paranormal, the Reverend Smith promptly changed his mind after experiencing some of the unusual phenomena. In addition to the nun, the ghost of Harry Bull was now spotted too. Strange voices were heard and a mysterious light would occasionally glimmer in some of the windows.

Borley Rectory – the Investigations

 

Bemused by all this, Reverend Smith contacted the Daily Mirror which, in turn, contacted Harry Price, founder of the National Laboratory for Psychical Research.

Price arrived and carried out a comprehensive investigation of the house, interviewing many witnesses and compiling extensive notes on all of the unusual phenomena.
When the Smith family moved out in 1930, the Foyster family moved in. It was during the 5-year tenancy of the Foyster family that the incidence of spooky activity was to reach its peak. Many bizarre events took place. Sounds and even voices were heard coming from unoccupied parts of the house. Mysterious writing was found scrawled on the walls and on pieces of paper which appeared from nowhere. Objects and people were thrown around by forces unknown.
When the Foyster family moved out in 1935, Harry Price was able to lease the building for a whole year so that he could pursue his paranormal investigations systematically. He advertised in the newspapers for volunteer researchers who would live with him in the building, conducting vigils and noting down anything unusual.
Harry Price was, in many ways, the first modern ghost hunter. Although the ghost hunters of today tend to deprecate his lack of precision, he was, in fact, far ahead of his time in the use of sophisticated equipment to conduct investigations. In Borley Rectory, he made use of cameras, including a motion picture camera, and even portable telephones to allow the researchers to communicate with one another while in different parts of the sprawling building.
Not much in the way of the paranormal was witnessed during Price’s one-year tenure of the house. The nun made no appearances. One of the researchers did hold a séance, however, in which she claimed to have been contacted by the spirit of the dead nun. Her name was Marie Lairre. She had come from France to live at the convent in Borley, but ended up being murdered by the local lord.
In 1938 the Rectory was purchased by Captain William Gregson. He lived in the property for only a short time before it burned down in 1939. While digging in the fire-scarred ruins in 1943, Harry Price came across some buried bones which he claimed were those of the murdered nun. He arranged for a proper burial to take place.
In 1939, Price wrote a popular book about the rectory, titled The Most Haunted House in England, and followed up with another, The End of Borley Rectory, in 1946.

Borley Rectory – The Modern View

 

After Price died in 1948, some people critiqued the whole Borley Rectory phenomenon, calling it a fraud. They claimed that Harry Price had essentially invented the haunting on his own, because he desperately wanted to investigate a haunted house and to write books about it. One reporter, who attended a vigil with Price during which he found himself being struck by stones, suspected that Price was the culprit, confronted him and claimed to have found a number of stones in Price’s coat pocket! There were many independent witnesses to paranormal phenomena at Borley Rectory, however, so, even if he is accused of sensationalising the haunting, it is hard to credit that Price invented it out of whole cloth. Following its destruction by fire, the building was demolished in 1944 and a number of private residences now stand in the same spot. Though the residents are said to be averse to publicity, quite a few have reported ghostly and unexplained phenomena over the years.


http://www.spookystuff.co.uk/BorleyRectory.html

The 10 Most Haunted Libraries In America

1. The Willard Library

hoosierparanormal.com

“The story of the gray lady began in 1937 when a janitor reported seeing a floating apparition of a woman in the boiler room…Over 1000 sightings have been recorded since 1937; mostly visual in nature. However, according to Maer MacKay of The Willard Library Ghost Chatters, they have also uncovered the existence of the spirit of a male child in the basement children’s reading room. The manifestations in this area range from levitating books, to orbs of light, to being touched and having one’s hair stroked.”

2. Parmly Billings Library

cdm15018.contentdm.oclc.org / Via britannica.com

“Acquisitions Librarian Karen Stevens has written a book about Montana ghosts, in which she devotes an entire chapter to the library’s various haunts that she has investigated: the dark-haired woman in the basement; strange whistling and a male ghost wearing jeans and work boots on the second floor; a white shape that moves outside the windows on the fifth floor; and odd movements in the book stacks of the Montana Room. Construction crews in the fall of 2005 reported numerous paranormal incidents.”

3. Andrew Bayne Memorial Library

 

baynelibrary.org / Via britannica.com

“Library Director Sharon Helfrich said in the October 25, 2005, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that she has seen some strange things since she took over in 1998. Lights and ceiling fans turn on and off, numbers appear randomly on computer screens, shadows move through the halls, and a woman dressed in Victorian clothing appears. Librarian Diane Roose said she has noted that books sometimes play hide-and-seek on the shelves. Paranormal activities seemed to increase in 1998 after Dutch elm disease claimed a 300-year-old tree on the grounds. The building was bequeathed to the borough of Bellevue in 1912 by Amanda Bayne Balph, who stipulated that no trees were to be removed from the parkland on the property.”

4. Blanche Skiff Ross Memorial Library

Flickr: sprootles / Via britannica.com

“Students report books falling from the shelves, book carts rolling around, and music on the back stairs. An old man in a smoking jacket and cap has allegedly been seen on the balcony. Other haunts at this 1963 building include two girls in Victorian dress who play on the stairs and a young woman in a long white gown who reads a book.”

5. The Saline County Library

salinecountylibrary.org / Via britannica.com

“The library’s home from 1967 to 2003 was a converted theater building that frequently featured phenomena that made librarians suspect a ghost was afoot: phantom footsteps, paperback carousels rotating by themselves, books falling from the shelves, a self-operating photocopier, and a slamming book-return door. Once, late at night, Director Julie Hart heard the distinctive sound of a manual typewriter—but the library had long ago discarded theirs.”

6. Peoria Public Library

alliedconst.com / Via mysteriousheartland.com

“According to legend, the Peoria Public Library is built on cursed ground and is occupied by as many as a dozen different ghosts…the first three library directors all died under unusual circumstances. In 1966, the original library was torn down and a new one built in its place, but the ghosts remained. Employees have reportedly heard their names being called while alone in the stacks, felt cold drafts, and even claimed to have seen the face of a former library director in the basement doorway.”

7. Pattee Library

commons.wikimedia.org / Via britannica.com

“According to the Shadowlands website, ‘Workers and students report that there have been strange screams echoing up from the basement levels, transparent girls thumbing through books, disembodied glowing red eyes, book carts being moved without anyone present, and all sorts of other phenomena.’”

8. Houston Public Library

Flickr: 69730369@N06 / Via ilovelibraries.org

“Ghostly music can be heard in the Julia Ideson Building of the Houston Public Library. It it said to be the ghost of Julius Frank Cramer, a night janitor who practiced playing a violin in through the library after it was closed. He lived in a basement apartment in the building until he died in 1936.”

9. The Phoenixville Public Library

phoenixvillelibrary.org / Via britannica.com

“Three different ghosts are said to inhabit this recently renovated 1902 building. ‘One of them is a lady who is in the attic,’ said the library’s Executive Director John Kelley. ‘She’s wearing a bustle dress, a high hat, and having a grand old time.’ The Chester County Paranormal Research Society conducted an investigation there in 2006 and took photos of orbs and discolorations. A video shows a library book falling from the shelf.”

10. Scottsdale Public Library

vimeo.com / Via azcentral.com

“Two Scottsdale Public Library branches investigated by an organization of professional ghost hunters are indeed haunted, but there is nothing to fear, the investigators said.

“Members of Sonoran Paranormal Investigations Inc. said while there may be things that go bump in the book stacks at the Arabian and Civic Center libraries, they do not appear to be malevolent, but are simply seeking attention.”

Gledswood Homestead

Its grandeur may be fading but Gledswood Homestead’s history is still embedded in the apparitions that lurk in hallways of the once beautiful country estate. The team’s psychic contingent channel their most vivid visions of the spirit world at this seemingly peaceful property.

http://www.syfy.com.au/shows/haunting-australia-1/content/locations?episode-title=gledswood%20homestead#ad-image-0