"OUIJA" HUNTED DANGER ZONE #110:38 May 02 2016
Times Read: 422
A SERIES OF CAUTIONARY TALES
by Jane J. Wichers
The course of study should be wisdom, but there are many who, unschooled, unwittingly, unknowing, tread from the path of wise objectivity into the mire of folly.
Over the years, as interest in the paranormal and the unexplained has grown, there have been an extraordinary number of reports of horrific events and terrifying experiences.
Most who have been on the receiving end of paranormal attack and survived unscathed will remember the experience forever, and it will inform every aspect of their interest in the unknown for the remainder of their lives.
Others, not so lucky, have been irretrievably changed by an encounter with the darker side of the paranormal.
Some others, pitiably, have looked into the Abyss and not only did the Abyss look back, it also reached out and grabbed them.
OUIJA!
Why the “Yes! Yes!” Board
Is a Big “No! No!”
“The borderland between the worlds of the living and the dead appears to be a kind of psychic jungle or 'outlaw territory,’ thronged with vicious, psychopathic personalities. If they can find and attune themselves to a victim, their destructive natures can operate with even less restraint than they did while embodied.”
Currie 1978:192
The Ouija board is one of the most popular methods of spirit communication among the curious and initiates in the world of paranormal investigation. The name – “Ouija” – is derived from the French and German words for “yes” – oui and ja. Although distributed in many different types, today the most recognizable Ouija board consists of a flat board with the letters of the alphabet, a series of numbers, some punctuation marks, and the words “yes,” “no,” and “goodbye” printed on it. Users will place their fingers lightly on a supplied planchette, or pointer; a question is then asked and all present concentrate their conscious energy on the board and pointer. If communication is successful, the pointer will begin to move, spelling out a series of messages in response to queries from the person or group.
Called “The Mysterious Talking Oracle,” sales of the Ouija board soared during the early part of the 20th century coinciding with a growing public interest in spiritualism and the unexplained. The 1960’s and 70’s experienced a sort of Ouija “craze” and the board became an almost indispensable part of mainstream home entertainment. Distributed and marketed as a game, the board became popular with adolescents and students, as well as many adults.
The Ouija board is often the first experience many people have with investigations into the realm of the paranormal. It is frequently used by amateurs and the curious to try to contact the deceased and other denizens of the unseen world. It has been stated that a peculiar science applies to the Ouija board, making it ostensibly scientific: if people follow the formula, they will nearly all get a similar result – in other words, they will get cognizant, intelligible answers to their inquiries. The quality and duration of the responses, however, depend entirely on who – or what – is answering.
Psychics, mediums, and avid students of the paranormal genuinely believe in the reality of spirit contact. Their collective view of use of the Ouija board is primarily that responses gained from the board are made by discarnate human entities as well as non-human entities, all of which exist in different states of spiritual awareness and development. The problem with an instrument like the Ouija board is that most often the lowest entities most closely associated with our own etheric level will be the ones attracted to and allowed entry via the board.
When contact is made with a more spiritually refined entity, discarnate human or non-human, the response will usually be enlightening. If contact is made with an entity existing on a lower etheric plane, the response is usually one of two kinds: the entity will either appear reassuring and knowledgeable, perhaps even identifying itself by a recognizable name in order to more readily gain trust; or, the response will be overtly vulgar, tasteless, even malicious, designed to shock and disarm the querents. This is one of the reasons why use of the Ouija board is often compared to picking up strangers in bars and inviting them home (Roy 1996:176).
In the early days of Ouija exploration the mainstream view was that the “messages” were simply autopsychic responses of the subconscious or unconscious minds of the querents. Similarly, some skeptics have suggested a purely human syndrome for the apparent movement of the board’s pointer ( www.skeptic.com ) Because the Ouija board was primarily sold in toy stores and people used it for fun, or alternately for personal gain such as trying to get winning lottery numbers, no one was sufficiently able to explain the circumstances when groups of people were receiving cursing, foul language, and even overt threats from their boards. Though sometimes explained by skeptics as the manifestation of alternate personality patterns in outwardly decent or complacent people, this simply was not a good enough explanation as to why this activity occurred most frequently with Ouija board use, as opposed to the results gained from other methods of paraphysical exploration
DISCARNATE HUMAN ENTITIES
“People who were violent, destructive, or insane in life are rarely improved by death, and if they become trapped in the transition to the afterlife they can become sources of much evil. Partly this is an effect of the emotional atmosphere they generate, but they can also take a more active role in causing harm.”
Greer 2004:69
Mediums, clairvoyants, and other “experts” at contacting the spirit world have consistently stated that there are more than one kind of discarnate human entities existing in the twilight realms of the spirit world. Most of the recently dead, who are, in fact, ghosts, are never seen by the living again once they have passed beyond this twilight realm. Under some circumstances, however, the dead can be trapped in the lower etheric regions closest to our physical reality and many times they either do not know how or simply refuse to move on. Oftentimes, this reluctance is the result of sudden, violent death combined with negative emotions or circumstances which serve as tangible links – to the dead at least – to the physical world. Circumstances of extreme fear and pain that abruptly end the life of a living person can often forge an enduring connection between the etheric personality – now a discarnate human entity – and the world that person knew while living.
Scholarship and evaluation into years of Ouija board use has identified the existence of lower etheric spirits, dead human beings, who live in a state of perpetual despair and envy of the living, resentful of the fact that those remaining on the physical plane can still experience everything the dead cannot. Feelings of hopelessness often turn to hatred because the dead keenly feel the loss of their physical life and want desperately to experience everything they once knew – food, alcohol, sex, companionship, feelings of excitement due to joy or, more ominously, violence. Because these entities were once human beings who otherwise would have passed into the higher spiritual realms opened by the death passage, they are unable to generate the energy necessary to allow vicarious experience of these physical attractions WITHOUT a more developed connection on the physical plane.
This level of desperation experienced by the discarnate human will make it seek out targets for expression among the impressionable living. Often the discontented spirit will find a willing but unknowing victim in a person who is trolling the depths of the unknown via the portal of the Ouija board. This type of communication has a distinct pattern when users of the board contact discarnate entities from the lower etheric levels, as many researchers into the phenomena have stated:
“The invader focuses on the victim's character weaknesses...If one is vain, appeals to vanity are made. 'I need your help, ' the seducer will say, 'and only you can help me' ...The entity is malicious and does not hesitate to lie, misrepresent itself (usually as a deceased loved one) and flatter. It's better for the invader, of course, if the victim is alone, isolated, exhausted and ill.
If needs be the invader will terrify its victim, materializing in ghastly form, inducing grotesque visions, inciting poltergeist activity, causing objects to appear out of the blue, delivering false or tragic news, levitating objects, perhaps levitating the victim. All these things and more might be done ¾ not as ends in themselves but as a means to an eventual complete possession.” (Hunt 1985: 86-87)
As such, the spirit(s) encourage the victims to isolate him- or herself from friends and activities and rely only on the board for companionship and communication. Often this results in debilitation of mental and physical health, via neglect and obsession; there are also documented cases of victims being encouraged to undertake dangerous and wildly uncharacteristic activities. The desire to use and be guided by the board will be uncontrollable and will persist in the victim day and night.
Whatever your feelings about the board, whether it is a valued tool for contacting a consoling and intelligent spirit world, or that it is simply a toy that is easily manipulated by the subconscious mind of the “players,” there is ample evidence to suggest that the board can be a tangible danger to anyone who is mentally disturbed, highly suggestible, or who has been using mind-altering drugs. Experts unanimously agree that the board should absolutely be kept out of the reach of children who are themselves an open portal of mixed and evolving energies that spirits often are attracted to without benefit of an added “talking oracle.”
Those with complete disregard for any safeguards where use of the board are concerned might consider the sobering evidence presented generations ago by American psychiatrist Dr. Carl Wickland who warns:
“The serious problem of alienation and mental derangement attending ignorant psychic experiments was first brought to my attention by cases of several persons whose seemingly harmless experiences with automatic writing and the Ouija board resulted in such wild insanity that commitment to asylums was necessitated...Many other disastrous results which followed the use of the supposedly innocent Ouija board came to my notice and my observations led me into research in psychic phenomena for a possible explanation of these strange occurrences.” (Wickland 1924 :29)
The fear among experts is that habitual use of the board can produce prolonged contact with the malevolent dead who are then more readily able to subdue the victim’s personality and make contact with the victim at any time by “talking” in a voice only the victim can hear or producing intruding thoughts in the victim’s head. According to psychic expert Paul Beard, this can result in “practically continuous evil suggestions [that] may involve visual hallucinations.” In short, mental illness.
NON-HUMAN ENTITIES
“The moral here is simple: the mere lack of a body is no guarantee of superior knowledge – or good intentions for that matter . . .”
Greer 2004:68
Even the most pedestrian student of the supernatural and the unexplained knows that there are many different types of spirits co-existing with those of us in the physical world – albeit most “live” dispersed throughout other levels of spiritual development. Still, it is important to remember that only a certain percentage of these entities were once living human beings.
Just as there are benign and helpful intelligences and spirits who respond to the seeking human consciousness, so also there are those non-physical beings inhabiting a level of existence that “underlies” or lies “beneath” matter as we perceive it. These entities have been called by a number of names, from malevolent spirit beings to demons. However, if we strip the word “demon” of its latent Christian overtones, it is a useful and applicable term by which to define the more dangerous non-human spirits who lurk in the border realms between the living and the dead.
“Our physical bodies are said to be like phantoms to demonic perception, while their bodies are on a level we can’t perceive at all (Greer).” Connections to demons are made on the astral level, thus it is through our imaginations, our thoughts and feelings, that we initially become aware of them; conversely, these are the principal channels they use to gain access for assault and to cause us harm.
It is a commonplace theory, especially among magickal adepts and those researchers with a strong sense of their own identity, that demonic obsession and possession are, in a sense, voluntary states. That is, as Greer states, “in order to become subject to one or the other, a link has to be formed between human awareness and the demonic plane, and that link must be formed from the human side.” As such, demons enter only with permission, and activating the channel that is the common Ouija board is effectively granting blanket permission to nothing less than an occupying force.
Once these spirits sense the energy of an open portal, they immediately go to work to “realize” themselves on the physical plane. To the inept or the emotionally unprepared, this moment – the instant when the evil spirit beings or demons first “see” the flux in the astral plane – is the one when we as humans are most vulnerable. This is the time when the necessary “potent link” is evoked.
The non-human entities encountered through the Ouija board, in addition to being called demons, are also commonly identified as “blind forces” – or patterns of energy with little connection to the spiritual level of being. Because of this disconnect, these forces tend to act in unbalanced ways especially when encouraged or challenged by human beings. These latent malevolent forces have no sense of balance; demons do not even try to achieve discernable patterns.
Existing as they do in the lowest etheric level it is not surprising that when these demonic spirits successfully make connection on the physical plain, they are not inclined to relinquish it easily. By the very baseness of their origin, these malevolent ones will begin to manifest the many powerful weapons in their arsenal: assaults on the living; haunting and other manifestations; obsession, often mistaken for common mental illness; and, of course, possession of the human victim. These last two are the most recognizable, however, often a frequent user of the Ouija board will begin to experience a localized and seemingly innocuous haunting that is usually dismissed as a ghostly manifestation unconnected with use of the board. When the nature of the haunting advances, often worsening proportionate to the victim’s continued consultation of the Ouija board, the manifestation usually takes on the aspects of assault or attack. Anyone who has ever awakened to a smothering sensation, as if someone is sitting on their chest crushing the air from them (a manifestation widely called the “Old Hag” syndrome) has probably been the victim of a demonic assault. Frequent users of the Ouija board often report many such attacks; in nearly every case, the horrible sensation is accompanied by a sense of the presence of overwhelming evil, characteristic of demonic activity.
Investigative treatises are full of information on how an episode of demonic obsession or possession first reveals itself and knowledge of what to look for in the way of “signs” can help to stop a demonic event before it happens. In the case of the Ouija board, generally speaking the subject will spend or seek to access the board almost constantly; it is the primary focus of recreation and entertainment in the victim’s life and he or she is known to be using it during most waking hours. Additionally, the subject will spend an inordinate amount of time brooding, expressing (either verbally, physically or in writing) feelings of a negative nature such as anger, jealousy, greed, or something similar. Others who are present when the victim is consumed in this morose state will begin to sense a feeling of chill – this marks the entrance or presence of the demonic entity. Often the victim will succumb to feelings of drowsiness or the overwhelming need to sleep; the victim will often also complain of headaches, usually localized at the base of the skull. These are all hallmarks that a demonic presence is gaining access to the victim.
Querents who use the board in the company of someone thus afflicted will also begin to feel the palpable presence of an otherworldly entity. Often the sense of fear or dread will become so overwhelming that friends are discouraged from keeping the company of the victim, ultimately isolating him or her and leaving the way open for full possession.
“The victim of possession seems to take on a completely different personality . . . Cruelty and malice are the dominant factors in the demonic ‘personality,’ with an odd sort of self-pity breaking through now and again . . . One thing that nearly all have in common is the tendency to assault the mind and emotions, rather than the body.”
It should be pointed out here that an environment where experimentation with the Ouija board is accompanied by any kind of ritual magick could produce additional, unexpected consequences. Many people who are merely dabblers in the mystery arts often think of themselves as much more potent than they actually are: when even the most adept magicians take every conceivable precaution to guard against intrusion by malevolent and demonic entities, why would anyone proceed into the realm of ritual magick wearing only an ego for a shield? Nevertheless, it is generally proven true that novices who have an interest in magickal practices usually are found in possession of a Ouija board among other divination tools. If the “magician” in question is overweening or does not have the appropriate training, usually the magick performed will go nowhere. However, there is always the possibility that a link with the etheric plane will be made, especially if the Ouija has already been used, and this can spell trouble. Greer describes this type of uninformed use of magick as similar to “mixing together chemicals from a chemistry set at random; most … will do nothing, but there’s always that one chance that one will blow [his] hand off.”
HOW DOES THE OUIJA WORK? ONE POSSIBLE THEORY
This question might be more accurately phrased as: How does the Ouija open? Seemingly there are as many theories as there are users and detractors, but what all the theories seem to have in common, underlying speculation and experience, is that the Ouija board tends, after time, to take on a mind of its own.
“When we moved from our house in Mid-City, in New Orleans, we went over 14 miles away to the new subdivisions in East New Orleans. My dad built that new house from the ground up; no one had lived in it before us. Before we locked the old house up for the last time, we all saw my mom throw that old Ouija board on the trash; she was happy to do it, too, because she hated the thing. But when we got to the new house, about an hour later, and I began exploring, I found the Ouija board, in its box, alone, in an empty back hall closet. We had all arrived together, no one had gotten to the house before us. But that board got there all on its own, with no help from anyone alive, at least. My mom was so disturbed, she took it outside and made my dad stand on it until it broke in half, then she stuck it in the construction debris that the workers were hauling away to the dump! I’ll never forget that, and I’ll never go near a Ouija board again.!”
– Real life experience of a New Orleans local.
One theory that has been propounded recently points to the strange system of numeric values assigned to letters of the Hebrew alphabet. According to investigative parapsychologist Dr. Julius Eckmann, similar numeric values apply to the letters and other markings on the Ouija board; added to the numbers present, letter values produce new sums. Although these values are obscure and completely unknown to those of us on the physical plane, to those discarnate entities on the astral level (non-human entities in particular), combinations of these values become the key to unlocking the board, opening the portal between the worlds.
Anyone who has used the Ouija board and experienced the pointer moving of its own volition, even those with only minimal success contacting spirits, has experienced the prelude to the opening of the board. As described by Eckmann, the seemingly meaningless circles and combinations of stops and starts are actually evidence of the board decoding itself right before our eyes. Once the appropriate keys have been turned, the portal is ready, and with a willing human subject for grounding, there is nothing that cannot come through the opening in the planes.
Though many people dismiss Eckmann’s theory, it must be acknowledged that it is possibly one of the best explanation for why the Ouija board acts the way it does before it begins to actively respond. Just like a key to a front door or a dungeon, perhaps the astral levels have keys of which we cannot be aware, and which we unknowingly turn when we approach and use the board?
Once open, however, most experts are in agreement that the board can be difficult (in some cases impossible) to “close,” and entities move freely through it until the board is broken or burned, or destroyed in some other manner.
WHAT TO DO
This is where the words, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” seem to be appropriate. The best way to protect oneself from the dangers of the Ouija board is, of course, not to experiment with one. But knowing the tenacity of human curiosity, it is safe to say that this warning will continue to go unheeded.
That said, if you find yourself involved in a Ouija board experiment, or if someone you care about is frequently exposed to the practice, there are a number of protective measures that are suggested by practitioners of natural and ritual magick that can be used to forestall the negative effects of encounters with lower etheric beings. The operative word here, of course, is “forestall.” Magick is “indirect and usually subtle.” Unfortunately, many encounters with spirit beings initiated through use of the Ouija board consist of physical phenomena as well as mental and emotional attack. As Greer succinctly states, “Physical phenomena need to be handled with physical tools; if you need to walk through a solid wall, in other words, you need a bulldozer, not an incantation.”
Still, magic and its methods are “the first and foremost line of defense” against the types of aggressive and dangerous spirit manifestations that often accompany Ouija board use. It has been stated that magickal intervention works best of these etheric creatures because they are part of the twilight world that lies between physical reality and the spiritual realm. Because magick operates within the gloaming of this extra-natural realm, it can therefore be a very effective tool against the worst that world has to offer. Protective amulets, talismans, crystals, and other such products from the natural magick apothecary are often very helpful in preventing negative entities from zeroing in on a target. Simply put, if you’re going out in a rainstorm you want an umbrella: if you insist on participating in Ouija explorations, the same line of thinking applies. Whether by means of a physical item carried on the body, or by intense realization of the kind of “white light” protection forwarded by metaphysical devotees for years, the caution here is that one should never experiment with the Ouija board (or other methods of spirit contact, for that matter) without thinking “protection” first.
In cases where the malevolent affliction is primarily present in the atmosphere where a Ouija board has been frequently used, there are numerous cures in natural magick beliefs, as well as potent house cleansing rituals in the vodoun and pagan beliefs that are very effective against spirit infestation. Research and/or referral through your local magical community can be all that is needed to produce the “cure” for the types of entity-based attacks and hauntings that so often accompany Ouija experimentation.
In instances where these cautions either did not occur to the participants or were wholly disregarded, a situation may present itself where one or more persons is being victimized by spirits who gained access to this physical level via the Ouija board. In cases such as this, for those so inclined, the use of ritual magick by a competent and well-trained ritual magician is something to be considered. However, in most places, the magical community is a “mixed bag” of sorts where extremely competent practitioners can be found, if one looks hard enough, but usually it is easier to find posers and egoists of limited knowledge and little power. These types of individuals can only make the situation worse. Additionally, there are plenty of well-meaning and honest people whose interest in magick outweighs their experience and ability; these people do not have the training to deal with the darker manifestations of Ouija board entities and should not be asked to try. Seeking out a ritual magician, priest or priestess with a solid reputation can be accomplished through contact with your local magickal community. Another possibility is to seek out a working circle or coven that performs collective prayer or blessing rituals. In this case, “the focused will of a trained group can often break even a strongly established link between a human soul and a demonic power” (Greer).
Of course, there are instances, especially in cases of suspected demonic obsession and/or possession, where the first step for help should be to seek out the assistance of trained medical professionals. The possibility of the presence of a previously undiagnosed mental illness should be considered and, if possible, eliminated before other esoteric methods are pursued. If, after full evaluation by medical professionals, evidence of the obsession or possession that began with the use of the Ouija board still exists, the next logical step is to seek out the help a trained exorcist, usually a priest, who will advise and assist, and, where necessary, conduct an exorcism to break the hold of the malevolent spirit. Exorcism is difficult and dangerous; it should not be sought out lightly, nor should it be practiced by anyone but a trained priest, magician or priestess.
Finally, experts agree that the level of success achieved in freeing people from instance of demonic obsession or possession depends upon the attitude of the person affected. If he or she is willing to fight against the plaguing entity, the outlook is good. If, however, the afflicted person refuses to participate in his own cure, there is little anyone can do.
“Just because they’re dead doesn’t mean they’re smart.”
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