Martian

The last time I used a ouija board I was vomiting pea soup for a month after.

...

I thought Houdini proved these things were a load of crap a century ago.

If you really want proof that it works, try this. Have any and all users of the ouija board blindfolded before sitting down. Seat them at a table and only when they're seated and unable to see have a neutral third party place the board on the table. Have the neutral third party record any and all messages received without communicating to the participants during the session in any way. If the ouija board is a true method of communicating with spirits, the participants shouldn't need to see the board; even if you argue that the spirits are using the senses of the individuals present in some way (a claim that is backed by no evidence whatsoever, although to be fair neither is the ouija board itself) that shouldn't present an obstacle since the proceedings are still being directly observed. If you get an intelligible message, that could be considered evidence for the validity of the practice. If, on the other hand, all that's produced is gibberish, that would be a strong indicator that ouija boards are simply a toy, as most skeptics claim.

Note that in order for the test to be valid, a board with no tactile features should be used and should be placed only after the participants are seated. The participants will need assistance in finding the planchette, which is to be expected. The ideal board would be a new one with which the participants are not familiar with at all, so as not to skew the results with the participant's expectations.

If anyone's interested I'll be more than happy to explain the science involved (it's not necessarily always someone having a lark) but really, a quick google search can come up with all the same information I'm able to provide.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

Evil Milkman

I tried Ouija last year for the first time with someone and it was very eeiry. It didn't look like my partner was moving her arms while the piece on the board at times flew around and spelled out information only I would know.

I want to do it again, actually.

secretgem

I know that as a spectator, you may look at the person using the board as though they were pushing the planchette around the board. However to actually put your hands on that thing and experience the "energy" is very eerie, indeed! I'd really be interested in hearing your own personal experience when/if you do it again.

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Willravel

I suppose they could be good fun. Entertainment like fortune tellers and such can be good for a laugh.

Martian

The 'energy' comes from the participants. Read up on the ideomotor effect for more details.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

ottopilot

I only have my sister to thank for giving me an atomic ouija at the tender age of 11.
After months of ice packs and therapy, I found that I could competently cover Journey songs without the use of falsetto.

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"It rubs the lotion on Buffy, Jodi and Mr. French's skin" - Uncle Bill from Buffalo

MSD

Wow, this thread has a lot of names I haven't seen in a long-ass time.

I have a board, but I've never bothered to use it. Maybe I'll try it sometime, but I don't put forth the effort to believe in things these days. Makes a cool backdrop for photos, though.

blktour

I used one when i was about 12 or so. it scared the crap outta of me.

me and my friend and my sister tried it. tho it could've been my friend who knows.

then my sister bought something like this called the "psychic circle"

now that got me also.

we asked stuff like what number i was thinking, and then i closed my eyes and it got it everytime.

who knows now though.

I would really like to speak to my father if this stuff was true.

Martian

Ideomotor effect. Knowledge is your friend.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

blktour

how would it be ideomotor effect if I didnt see the numbers. sometimes i never touched the board. but me being a kid at the time, makes me think different. sometimes kids say things and really actually believe it in thier head. that may have been me back then.

not with the ouija board but with this psychic circle. i do understand what you are saying. but in this case. its hard to believe. since i would ask my sister to ask the spirit what number I was thinking, and it guessed it correctly.

Martian

My apologies, I misunderstood.

I don't really know what a psychic circle is. I do strongly believe that there's always a rational (non-paranormal) explanation for these things, even if we don't know what it is.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

blktour

that is true. that is why I am gonna believe the stuff i did when i was a kid. i mean I was only a kid. I didnt know jack about jack. lol

but that effect explanation is exactly what I thought as a kid also.

Strange Famous

I have one of the Parker Bros ones, tried to use it a couple of times, but nothing ever happened.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

Cynosure

-----Added 2/1/2009 at 01 : 21 : 45-----
A ouija board once called you an "eft"... ?!



Seriously, though, I think 99.9% of reported ouija experiences are false, in some way or another. However, I'm open-minded enough to think that perhaps 1 in a 1,000 of those experiences might be in some way true. I suppose I think the same about any reported paranormal experience.

Aphrodisios

Not crazy about them.

I remember messing around with one when I was younger. Nothing too crazy happened but in general I doubt they are very reliable. If I was going to try and contact the dead I can't see myself using this method.

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"Love is as much of an object as an obsession, everybody wants it, everybody seeks it, but few ever achieve it, those who do will cherish it, be lost in it, and among all, never... never forget it."

-Curtis Judalet