Spirit Boards

Does anyone on here use spirit/oracle/ouija boards?

I am fascinated in them and would love to own one but I feel apprehensive with all the stories you read of demonic possessions, etc.

I have a pretty strong faith in angels and God though - but is that really enough, I do not know

My wonderful, scandalous mother gave me a Parker Brothers Ouija when I was a kid for Christmas. I remember it so well because I opened it during a large family gathering and the other side of my family was horrified. One man pointed at it saying, "That's not a game! That's not a game!"

My friends and I got a kick out of it and scared the bejesus out of each other. As a serious tool for spirit contact, I've never had much luck with it and prefer other methods. I don't think it's any more dangerous than anything else you might use for spirit contact. I think you could take the same precautions and be just fine.

It's a board with letters on it. Nothing more, nothing less. People have been making them for generations with posterboard, markers, and a shot glass.

I collect them. I've used them with mixed results. >95% of the time, I'm convinced that the 'entities' that come through are nothing more than parts of the user's mind. Whether they're truthful, friendly, hostile, etc. depends on the user themselves. Most people don't know what's down there and aren't prepared to meet what they find, which IMO is where a lot of the weird stories come from.

The other 5% or so? There's something there. That's not usually the case, though. It's just that the messages through the board seem like something external when they usually aren't.

If you want to try your hand with these, go for it! Just remember that YOU are the one in control, not the board. Even if whatever comes through seems alien, it's probably not. It is your responsibility as the user to weigh the information (if any) that comes through and to use that information. People blame spirits and/or the board when in reality it's on them as a user. In that respect it's no different than Tarot. What you do with this is totally up to you.

Thanks for your input guys!

I have been reading up a bit on them - the stigma and fear mongering don't help when it dominates the readings. But I never worry about my other divination tools so perhaps I should just be seeing it as another tool and treating it the same way I would treat my cards, etc.

Darkmage said:

It's a board with letters on it. Nothing more, nothing less. People have been making them for generations with posterboard, markers, and a shot glass.

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My first one was made out of thin card stock and was folded and attached inside a Spanish-language comic I used to read as a kid. As you might imagine, it didn't last very long. Up until my mom gave me one for Christmas, we made them out of notebook paper at school.

I did the Ouija one summer with a group of friends using any table to hand with a drinks glass and cut out letters.

The impact of this memory for me is that the glass did move. Hard and fast, all over the place. We had a rule one fingertip lightly resting on the top. I also did it with just one of the group, my best friend at the time. I watched her finger like a hawk to make sure she wasn't pushing it. The glass would move so fast towards her that my finger would come off and be 'chasing' it and similarly when the glass zoomed in my direction hers would be coming off.

Although we were obsessed for weeks it fizzled out in the end because the letters generally did not make up any words and seemed nonsense. We were limited to asking yes and no answers.
Overall, the only sinister or odd occasion was when when I told the spirit we thought kept constantly coming, to f* off, my sisters dog behaved in an unusually aggressive manner. Barking like he was going berserk and would not let me come down from my attic bedroom for a few hours.

My main advice for using spirit boards is be sure that you know enough about what you are doing that you can get rid of anything that comes in and doesn't want to leave. As has been said in this forum many, many times, using a spirit board can attract, well, spirits, sometimes just curious, sometimes mischievous, and sometimes not very nice.

Just like having mice in the house, it's not such a big deal if you know how to get rid of them once they come in.

Apollonia said:

My main advice for using spirit boards is be sure that you know enough about what you are doing that you can get rid of anything that comes in and doesn't want to leave. As has been said in this forum many, many times, using a spirit board can attract, well, spirits, sometimes just curious, sometimes mischievous, and sometimes not very nice.

Just like having mice in the house, it's not such a big deal if you know how to get rid of them once they come in.

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Exactly! I've experienced this first hand myself, which is why I refuse to use one again.

I am wondering though why it might be experienced differently say to the tarot. What pops in to mind is 'cold calling' I am not really sure why I thought that.

ETA I was also thinking that it feels like the boundary between a real object and subjective thoughts/feelings (realm) is more blurred than perhaps other methods. Some kind of overlap.

Apollonia makes an excellent point.

When dealing with anything in the occult realm, be careful what you call on. I don't use spirit boards because it is going somewhere I don't wish to go. I use the tools I am comfortable with, decks, mostly tarot and Lenormand. I have even had an unnerving experience with photographs, peeking through the keyhole thread. I went in too "close" even though I ground and automatically protect myself and got more than I bargained for.
With anything, be prepared to deal with what you're doing, as Apollonia stated. Beyond that, we all do what we do.