Calling Aunt Hagatha. Are You Here With Us Now?-By Debbi Decker

So, you are thinking you will invite a few friends over, light some candles, and hold a séance. You might even want to haul that dusty Ouija board out of the closet and use that during your séance. May I make a suggestion? Don’t.

I think that just about everyone has heard of the Ouija board and many of us have used it at one point or another. Ouija boards are a fascinatingly scary subject. The board we are most familiar with today was invented in the 1890s and the patent was subsequently sold to Parker Brothers in 1966 (Parker Brothers has since been acquired by Hasbro, Inc.). The early 1890s board caught on quickly as a tool to be used by the Spiritualist movement. Several well known authors, poets, songwriters, and others have attributed works and deeds to working with the Ouija.

So, why do I suggest you not use it?

As someone interested in the paranormal, and a ghost hunter with some sensitive abilities, I shy away from the use of what are called spirit boards. Spirit boards have been around for thousands of year and the Ouija board is simply a newer version of the same. There are references throughout history of their use for communicating with the dead. There are also references of these kinds of instruments allowing entities of dubious nature to pass through from the other side. No one is exactly able to explain how these boards work, only that they do.

My grandmother was a very proficient user of the Ouija board. Blindfolded, she would lay her fingers on the planchette, and off it would go. We were instructed never to ask our questions out loud. She did not want to know what the questions were. But, she could answer them. Each and every time. As a teenager, I participated in a few of these events, and every time I did so the end result would be that my silent questions would be answered. I never felt the supposed “fun” of it though. After a few times, I stopped attending.

Some would say that my grandmother memorized the board and was very good at sensing body movements, and of course could tell by the subtle gasps and intake of breath that she was on to something. Some would say that she could certainly “predict” what questions a teenage girl would have (boys, dating, clothes, etc.) and could tailor her answers directly. I will never understand how she was able to do what she did with so much success. She never directly called for guidance, but she repeatedly told us that her hands were being moved by a spirit to spell out the answers to our questions. Most everyone who participated in these events enjoyed themselves and always looked forward to the next one. Not me.

It is possible that using these boards focuses a portion of the mind that fine-tunes the “radio frequency” emitted by the brain so that the spirits and the entities are more easily able to communicate with us. Over the years, I have run across many references to the opening of portals while using spirit boards. Portals are doorways to the other side, the other dimensions, etc. Sometimes what passes through these portals might not be a benevolent spirit stopping by to answer your question. How would you be able to tell? It’s not like you will get an honest answer if it is not a benevolent spirit. But then, I could be wrong. It might just answer. In ways you would never want to experience. I have never asked and I don’t intend to. Because I have also read and heard first-hand about the numerous demonic possessions and evil hauntings that resulted from people playing around with a Ouija board.

I cannot explain the aura that enveloped me every time I sat with my grandmother while she worked the board. I can tell you that it always made me sick to my stomach and very afraid. I knew nothing at the time of portals, entities, demonic possessions, and the like. All I knew was that my grandmother assured me that this was innocent fun. Nevertheless, something “other” was always lurking in the background that terrified me. That alone was enough to cause me to step away and leave the Ouija behind.

So, have your séance, and ask Aunt Hagatha to drop in for a visit. Leave the Ouija board in the closet (or better yet, burn it). Aunt Hagatha, I would assume, was a nice person and maybe she can give you a good stock tip. I would not, however, bet the farm on any answer that came through the use of a Ouija board!

Debbie Decker is proprietor of twistedpixelstudio Art & Assemblage Emporium. Check out her artist page to find links to her shop and blog to read more of her writings. Visit again next month for the telling of hauntings and ghostly tales by Debbie Decker.