Ouija Boards Scare Me!

Okay, okay, I know it is a totally irrational thing. We're just talking about a laminated pressed-cardboard surface with letters and numbers and a plastic stylus. They were sold my a major toy company for decades. Logic dictates that something mass produced for consumption as a kids' game cannot have any real occult powers. And anyone who knows me - logic is a strong factor in my psychological make-up and behavior.

They still scare the heck out of me! Here's why:

Back in the Fall of 1983 or so (I remember my friends Gary and Kathy were still dating at the time), I came back home from my freshman year at college on a semester break. So, I called up my usual high school gang to go and hangout one evening, and we all ended up going over to Alison's house. Her folks were out for the evening for something, so it was about seven of us just hanging out in the family room listening to music and such.

As we were catching up on things, it was brought up that the group members that remained back in the hometown for school and jobs had been doing some things with spirit writing. Gary had actually been doing it with the group of girls - he said he was channelling the spirit of some deceased child and would produce these writing in a hand-writing not his own that told this child's tragic tale. My buddy John and I were into tarot cards at the time and we would do readings for the others for fun (we must have brought along our decks based on the proposed plan for the night).

Anyway, someone brings up the idea that we should bring out the Ouija board and do some spirit world contact that way. Now, I was a skeptic that it would work - even if I did believe in spirits and ghosts. So, a bunch of us gave it a shot. I put one finger on the stylus as did Lynette and Alison. I'm not sure whose sprits we tried to contact at first, but at one point we thought we'd see if we could contact any deceased relatives. So, I asked "the board" a question that only someone in my immediate family (living or dead) would know. For sure Lynette and Alison didn't know what I was alluding to. And damn if the board didn't spell out the correct answer!

Yes, I did have a finger on the stylus but one finger alone doesn't move that thing. Even if my own thoughts concentrating on the answer were guiding my finger muscles to want to steer it in the right direction, how in the world could my muscles counter those of the other two girls? It had to be something else - it certainly felt like something else! Once that stylus started to move, it moved with amazing accuracy and pace. I can still hear the sound of the plastic device moving across the board, letter to letter to letter.

Needless to say, I freaked when that happened. I quickly told "the board" goodbye which is protocol for "releasing" the spirits you've contacted. Once the stylus hit that goodbye mark, I was done for the night. I was sufficiently freaked out by the whole thing.

To this day, I've never touched another Ouija board again