OUIJA BOARD INFORMATION: Ouija Board Informaion

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Ouija Board Informaion

A ouija or spirit board is any flat surface printed with letters, numbers, and other symbols, to which a planchette or movable indicator points, supposedly in answer to questions from people at a seance. The fingers of the participants are placed on the planchette that then moves about the board to spell out messages. Ouija Boards are usually spelled out as "Wee-gee". Ouija is a trademark for a talking board currently sold by Parker Brothers. While the word is not a genericized trademark, it has become a trademark which is often used generically to refer to any talking board.

There are several theories about the origin of the term "Ouija". According to one of these, the word is derived from the French "oui" (for "yes") and the German/Dutch "ja" (also for "yes"). An alternative story suggests that the name was revealed to inventor Charles Kennard during a Ouija séance and was claimed to be an Ancient Egyptian word meaning "good luck." It has also been suggested that the word was inspired by the name of the Moroccan city Oujda. Despite its common usage, "Ouija" is a registered trademark (but the term "Ouija Board" has been abandoned as a registered trademark.

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Getting Rid of a Ouija Spirit

My friends and I were very interested in the Ouija board. Two of them actually had a board. We all thought it was just a game. My friends and I were into Girl Scouts, and we had a skiing trip coming up, so we all thought it’d be fun to play the Ouija board in the car! Some of our fellow riders wanted to play as well, so we got into a position where we could all play. We called a spirit and found out that it was a Ouija one. We asked another spirit how to get rid of Ouija for good. The spirit told us to take the board and three people, sit in a circle in front of a fireplace, link our pinky fingers together, and put our index fingers on the triangle. We would chant, “Ouija, please go away and don’t come back.” We did that until we heard an explosion in the fireplace. The triangle would move back and forth from “yes” and “no” on the board, faster and faster, and then would slow. Eventually we heard the explosion and had a peaceful night, but the room that we stayed in had large windows. I had a creepy feeling that we were being watched, and I would not look outside the window. On another note, we thought our friend was possessed. She moved slowly and talked as if she was possessed, and she would call the Ouija board her “daddy.” Later we found out that she was faking, but how could we know?

Will Makes a Visit

Just the other day my friends Kaylee and Shelby were over. We were bored so we decided to take out the Ouija board. I hadn’t used it in forever, but when we did it this time, it worked for real. We asked if anyone was there, and it was a boy named Will. He described himself as 14 years old, black hair and green eyes. He told us he used to go to our school and died because of diabetes. We didn’t believe it, so Shelby asked him to do something to prove he was here, and one of us wasn’t just tricking her. We asked Will to pull up Kaylee’s sleeve. And he did. We started screaming. We talked to Will for hours. The whole time we could feel cold spots next to us. He said he was holding my hand. That must have been why my hand was freezing cold and not the other one. And we were covered in blankets, so in places he wanted to sit he’d move the blankets to the side and sit there. Shelby wanted more proof, so she told him to do something or she wouldn’t believe him. We looked over to the edge of the bed we were on, and the blankets were moving up and down. We asked him what he was doing, and he said he was “breathing.” We also asked him questions about our lives and what would happen. He told me that my boyfriend and I would break up soon. And later that day my boyfriend had gotten me angry and we’re going to break up. When we had asked him to go away, he said he would. But we decided to just lie there for a little while when we knew something wasn’t right. Shelby looked at the TV screen and said she saw a face that looked angry. We screamed and turned on the lights.

The Reappearing Ouija Board

My mother has told me this story time and time again. She first told me this story when I was around 12 years old. Mind you, each time she tells the story, it’s exactly the same. She was in her late teens (we’re talking 30-some years ago). Her father had brought home a Ouija board. Her siblings and she didn’t think much about it, so they played with it. My Aunt Bonnie (she’s about 10 years younger than my mom) had gotten the brunt of this “harmless” playing with the board. She stayed in her room and wouldn’t come out. And I guess her bedroom was absolutely freezing! You could see your breath and everything. When my Aunt Bonnie did talk, it wasn’t in her normal voice. My mother said it was very scary. I’m not exactly sure how long my aunt was like this, but it couldn’t have been for very long. To this day, my aunt doesn’t remember any of that. But that’s not all the story. Because after what happened to my aunt, my grandpa decided to throw away the Ouija. He took it outside and threw it away in the trashcan. The next morning, it was on their doorstep. That night, my grandpa burned it in the fire pit they had out back. He watched it completely burn to ashes. The very next morning it was on their doorstep. My grandpa had had enough, so he put that Ouija board in a bag full of bricks. He tied it up and threw it into the Muskingum River.* As far as any of us know, it’s still there today... *A river in Ohio

Sprite trap

A sprite trap is a magical device used to capture troublesome or harmful spirits and ghosts. These devices refer to a sprite as a preternatural creature. The sprite trap is created from a blackthorn stave and copper wire that has never carried electricity. During a ritual process, the copper wire is bound to the stave with red thread and the stave is marked with a Dag (or D) rune. Sprite traps are used at night, when the trap is set at the entrance to a home, church, graveyard, or other location where disturbances are taking place. To attract the troublesome entity, a cleft blackthorn stave with a lighted candle is placed in front of the trap. After the sprite trap has captured a spirit, it is removed from the location and the red thread is cut with a consecrated knife; the thread is then placed into a prepared witch bottle. If the bottle has been prepared to imprison the spirit, a spell is recited while the thread is placed in it. Finally, the bottle is corked and sealed with red wax before being buried. A thorn bush will be planted on the site. It is said that if a witch's bottle containing a spirit is opened, a very angry spirit will escape.

Types of possession

While not all belief systems consider spirits to be purely good or evil, the term demonic possession is commonly used when the spirit is perceived as malignant (a demon), whereas incorporation or channelling may be used in the case of benign spirits. Other terms applied to spiritual possession include being ridden, being tied down, Get Happy, and Baptism with the Holy Spirit. "Godforming" is a term often associated with these beliefs; however, it is fundamentally different. Godforming is the possessing of the qualities of an archetypal deity, and has nothing to do with worship. It is rather the "possessing" of the nature of the described deity, and not the deity itself. Generally, no belief in the deity being "godformed" is necessary to the practice.

Channelling is the claimed receipt of information or commands by a person functioning as a medium or channel for a spirit or other source. This often involves a séance, or a process of invocation such as "drawing down the moon". Some forms of channeling appear to involve spiritual possession, as the medium's voice or body may appear to be under the direct control of the channelled spiritual being, but some maintain that channeling and possession are distinct. In Spiritism the channeling (in its manifold types) is seen as a process, which can be either good or bad to the medium, while possession (which they term obsession) is seen as inherently bad, though often benign. Spiritists also reject the term channeling. Traditional religions such as Vodoun and Santeria define possession as a neutral thing, but as specifically positive when it involves being "ridden" by a deity or respected ancestor. In this context, channelling is seen as distinct from possession as channelling may only involve repeating the voices one hears in one's head, whereas possession involves complete loss of control to the outside entity, with the possessed person only returning to consciousness later with no memory of what happened while the spirit controlled their body and voice.

The concept is quite old and widespread in the history of religion. The concept was popularised in the West by Helena Blavatsky the founder of theosophy. The claim is also made by many other Spiritualist religions, such as Kardecism.

According to the religious scholar Wouter Hanegraaff, the difference between channeling and spiritism is that the first conveys extensive philosophical and religious messages and belief systems, not just short messages from the deceased or other entities.

Brazilian psychic surgeons, such as José Arigó, claim to work as channels for deceased surgeons.

Religious and Scientific views

Some religions — in particular, most Abrahamic religions — do not admit the existence of beneficial spiritual possessions; so, if they admit the concept at all, they automatically consider any spiritual possession as malign. Many of those religions have practices, often in ritual, to drive out such evil spirits, generally termed exorcism.

Various forms and denominations of Christianity have developed practices for driving out spirits, most notably Roman Catholicism; there exists a Roman Catholic International Association of Exorcists. Father Gabriele Amorth is a Roman Catholic priest and noted exorcist. Charismatic Christianity includes a tradition of individuals being 'blessed' by the Holy Spirit - either Speaking in tongues, or experiencing some other manifestation - but this is not traditionally considered possession by those who adhere to these beliefs.

Many other creeds, including Shamanism and many African and Afro-American religions, teach that spiritual possession may be benign as well as malign, and their rituals often include incorporation: either of spiritual deities, such as the lwa of Vodou (related to Voodoo), the Orisha of the Yoruba, or of the ghosts of deceased people, as in Kardecism. Depending on the religion, the person who is possessed may be a priest, or a specially gifted medium, or a lay member. In Spiritism, incorporation of spirits is a key aspect of the practice.

The existence of spiritual possession has not been scientifically proven. However, some psychologists acknowledge that occasionally, an individual exhibits behaviors that are consistent with possession as it is understood by the individual or the individual's religious/cultural tradition. Believers hold that these cases provide evidence of spiritual possession, but most psychologists dismiss these claims as anecdotal evidence and suggest that there are other possible explanations for these cases, including delusion and malingering. Some cases may be considered consistent with the psychological-psychiatric category of culture-bound syndrome.

Some cases of demonic possession may also be explainable by purely psychological or social causes, e.g. hysteria — roughly, a grown-up version of childhood tantrums or displays of anger. In fact this explanation was liberally mis-applied since the 19th century. In the past, demonic possession may also have been alleged (by the subject or by others) for the purpose of excusing behavior which would otherwise be severely punished — similar to a defendant falsely claiming temporary insanity in a court of law in many jurisdictions today.

Incarnations have been feigned by priests, religious figures, and mediums for fraudulent purposes, e.g. by pretending to communicate with a person's deceased relatives in exchange for "donations". The famous U.S. escape artist Houdini was instrumental in exposing several such frauds in the 1920s.

Contemporary Cases of Possession

According to spiritual science research, spiritual possession is when ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies etc.) control the mind (emotions, thoughts) and intellect (decision making ability) of a person. As a result, they also control the person’s actions.

Spiritual research findings state that spiritual possession is a contemporary phenomenon. The findings demonstrate that people with a physical illness or a weak mind are more likely to be attacked and possessed by ghosts and that up to 30% of the world's population may be possessed by ghosts

Spiritual Possession

In fiction

Spiritual possession, especially malign, has been a favorite theme of fictional works, especially in horror novels and films. The novel and film The Exorcist may be the best-known examples of the latter. A version of benign possession is Deadman, a ghostly superhero who uses his possession ability in the cause of justice. Jericho, a member of the Teen Titans, could also take possession of someone else's body through eye contact (and was able to control their motor skills, and sometimes speech). Powerful fictional telepaths of the Marvel Universe particularly X-Men characters such as Jean Grey and Professor X can possess other bodies.

Similarly, the animated hero Danny Phantom (half-ghost) and other ghosts in the series can 'overshadow' human beings, so-called presumably to avoid sounding occultic. Ino Yamanaka from Naruto uses Mind Body Switch Technique which transfers her own spirit to someone else's.

Frank E. Peretti's books This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness deal heavily in demonic possession and spiritual warfare from an Abrahamic religious standpoint.

Spiritual possession, though not necessarily malign, also appears as a secondary theme in The Dune Chronicles, a series of novels written by Frank Herbert. The video game Geist's primary game mechanic revolves around possessing people, animals and objects in order to progress.

In fantasy literature, the term channelling is sometimes used in other ways, particularly to describe a person's ability to draw on some form of magical power. For example, the Wheel of Time series uses the term extensively (although it is by no means the only work to do so).

In the animated series South Park, Kenny was killed off for a year in Kenny Dies. Eric Cartman then drunk his ashes thinking it was chocolate milk and became possessed by Kenny. Chef and Cartman's mom took him to Chef's Parents who exorcised Kenny.

In the manga and anime series Shaman King, shamans team up with ghosts and spirits to achieve their goals. The greatest dreams of a shaman is to become the Shaman King, who is able to contact the Great Spirit (the spirit that every soul will eventually go back to) in order to be the savior of the world. Various magical and religious terms are spread through out the story but they merge into something explainable by the time the main plot arrives.

Often in the manga and anime Card Captor Sakura, characters are possessed by spirits, some examples include Rita by The Sword Clow Card, and Sakura herself in the movie by its main antagonist.

In Lois Duncan's Stranger With My Face, Laurie is taught to project her soul from her body. Her sister Lea ends up taking over Laurie's body by projecting her soul.

Spirits

Metaphysical and metaphorical uses

The word is used in two related contexts, one metaphysical and the other metaphorical.

Its metaphysical context has attained a number of meanings:

1. An incorporeal but ubiquitous, non-quantifiable, substance or energy present individually in all living things. Unlike the concept of human souls, which is believed to be eternal and preexisting, a spirit develops and grows as an integral aspect of the living being. This concept of the individual spirit is common among traditional peoples. It is therefore important to note the distinction between this concept of spirit and that of the pre-existing or eternal soul because belief in souls is specific and far less common, particularly in traditional societies.
2. A daemon sprite, or especially ghost. A ghost is usually conceived as a wandering spirit from a being no longer living, having survived the death of the body yet maintaining the mind and consciousness.
3. In religion and spirituality, the respiration of the human being has for obvious reasons been strongly linked with the very occurrence of life. A similar significance has been attributed to human blood. Spirit in this sense denotes that which separates a living body from a corpse and usually implies intelligence, consciousness and sentience.
4. Spirits are often visualized as being interconnected to all others and The Spirit (singular capitalized) refers to the theories of a unified spirituality, universal consciousness and some concepts of Deity. All "spirits" connected, form a greater unity, the Spirit, which has both an identity separate from its elements plus a consciousness and intellect greater than its elements; an ultimate, unified, non-dual awareness or force of life combining or transcending all individual units of consciousness. The experience of such a connection can be a primary basis for spiritual belief. The term spirit has been used in this sense by at least Anthroposophy, Aurobindo, A Course In Miracles, Hegel, and Ken Wilber. In this use, the term is conceptually identical to Plotinus's "One" and Friedrich Schelling's "Absolute." Similarly, according to the pan(en)theistic aspect, Spirit is the essence that can manifest itself as mind/soul through any level in pantheistic hierarchy/holarchy, such as a mind/soul of a single cell (with very primitive, elemental consciousness), or a human or animal mind/soul (with consciousness on a level of organic synergy of an individual human/animal), or a (superior) mind/soul with synergetically extremely complex/sophisticated consciousness of whole galaxies involving all sub-levels, all emanating (since it is non-dimensional, or trans-dimensional) from the one Spirit.
5. In Christian theology, the Spirit is also used to describe God, or aspects thereof as in Holy Spirit, referring to a Triune God (Trinity): "The result of God reaching to man by the Father as the source, the Son as the course ("the Way"), and through the Spirit as the transmission."
6. Also in theological terms, the individual human "spirit" (singular lowercase) is a deeply situated aspect of the soul subject to "spiritual" growth and change; the very seat of emotion and desire, and the transmitting organ by which human beings can contact God. It is a central concept of Pneumatology.
7. In Christian Science, Spirit is one of the seven synonyms for God. These are: "Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 587).
8. In Harmonism, spirit is a term reserved for those which collectively control and influence an individual from the realm of the mind.

The metaphorical use of the term likewise has several related meanings:

1. The loyalty and feeling of inclusion in the social history or collective essence of an institution or group, such as in school spirit or esprit de corps

o A closely related meaning refers to the worldview of a person, place, or time, as in "The Declaration of Independence was written in the spirit of John Locke and his notions of liberty", or the term zeitgeist, meaning "spirit of the age".

1. As a synonym for 'vivacity' as in "She performed the piece with spirit." or "She put up a spirited defense."
2. The underlying intention of a text as distinguished from its literal meaning, especially in law; see Letter and spirit of the law
3. As a term for alcoholic beverages stemming from medieval superstitions that explained the effects of alcohol as demonic activity.
4. In Mysticism, as existence in unity with Godhead.