To not understand ouija boards?

[FairyPig]

So I've been reading on here (and other places) how these things aren't to be messed with, they're dangerous, they bring unwanted things into the house, how they're scary, etc.

I'm not wanting to dispute people's experiences but I honestly don't get it. It's a board with letters on and a glass in the middle. How does a board with numbers on and a glass enable ghosts and evil spirits to get through? How does a board enable a portal to be open to all sorts of evil spirits? What make an ouija board different to any other board to make them 'dangerous', 'scary' and 'not to be messed with'?

Speaking of ghosts and demons, why would they even need a portal to get through, can't they get through themselves?

Again not trying to dismiss anyone's experiences but I am seriously baffled how a board with numbers on and a glass can be magical and be able to do these things.

I've also recently learned that Toy's R Us in the US sell them, not sure if they sell them in UK branches, but that did make me go considering how many adults take them seriously and seem scared of them.

That aside, even though logically it seems silly to me I would still never use one. You know, just in case...

[Teddybeau1988]

I wonder how ghosts/ paranormal things manage to make things smell. After my granddads funeral the whole house suddenly smelt of his pipe smoke, despite no one else in he family being a smoker. It wafted through and then disappeared. Mum thinks it was him saying goodbye.

[LittleprincessinGOLDrocks]

Butterpuff mine was first hand, see my last post just before yours.

[SirChenjin]

I did one once - never again. Was bloody terrifying. And if one of the 3 of us managed to push the glass with such controlled force, at such a speed, at something that started off as nothing but a joke, then I am amazed.

[Beeyump]

Aaaargh, I hate when people begin to pile in to say 'did it once, never again'. It's so frightening! And that bit about the lavender scented shot glass

[Beeyump]

Clearly I am one of those with an easily influenced mind, which is a bit depressing.

[Butterpuff]

Sorry Little I type slow and x posted. Glad to see lots of people now with first hand experiences. I wasn't questioning if they were true....just looing for scary stories with all the details I'm hoping this is a long thread to keep me entertained today.

[PourquoiTuGachesTaVie]

It's all in your head! (IMO don't wish to offend ).

If you handed that glass to a stranger and asked them to sniff it, would they really be able to smell lavender? (Without any influence from you of course)

If a board spelled "glass" (as pp said) then the first glass related incident to happen afterwards is picked up on. Someone may have broken a glass or been bought a set of new ones and that would be the story you would be telling about the board that spelled "glass" mysteriously.

[WhatsGoingOnEh]

I did one at work (leaving party), it said I'd marry the bf I was dating at the time.

I didn't.

BUT... My Dad (world's biggest sceptic) did one as a teenager. It said it had a message for "David" -- my Dad's real name that he never used, he calls himself John. It then spelled out what everyone thought was a load of crap - until they saw Dad's face had gone white. The random letters were actually the numberplate of the car that Dad's best friend had just died in.

Mum (world's smallest sceptic) used to do them all the time when she was young. Once she asked, "who am I going to marry?" It spelled out the initials DB. Years later she met my Dad and of course, thought he was John B----. Till their second date, when she went to his house just after his birthday. All the cards on his mantelpiece said "to John", "dear john," etc... Then she saw the one from his Mum who'd written "to David". DB!

Dad actually proposed on that second date.

[VitoCorleone]

They are weird. I don't believe in ghosts and all that tosh, and know that its usually somebody pushing the glass but pretending they aren't, but yet they still freak me out and i wouldn't use one.

[LittleprincessinGOLDrocks]

Did anyone who has done a ouigi board do them in a place where there is believed to be paranormal activity?
The one I spoke about before was done at school, but our school was used as a hospital during the war. There were rumours around the school about before it being a hospital of a family living there and one of them dying in odd circumstances (a fall from the stairs that may not have been a fall type of story). As well as stories of nurses and patients dying in odd circumstances too (never looked in to them TBH - but we did know for a fact it was a hospital for those injured at war).
Odd things would happen, particularly on one corridor that was added to the manor house shortly before it was turned in to the hospital. Often the black boards would rotate when the teacher moved away from the board (and this happened in all of the rooms on that corridor - not just one). Doors would slam suddenly even when there was no breeze, and it was like a domino effect - a door at one end would slam then any open doors along the corridor would then slam in order down to the other end.
Our History teacher used to say a name (one she had chosen for the "ghost") and ask it to stop being a pest, so she clearly believed it was a ghost up to mischief.

Maybe given all that the ouigi board event made us more scared / more susceptible? Or maybe it was the ghost my History teacher named.

[SirChenjin]

No - did it in my friend's bedroom. Definitely no paranormal activity in her modern 3 bed semi!

None of us were pushing the glass - we started off pushing it, but because there was only 3 of us we could tell because we could tell were the pushing was coming from, if that makes sense, and then we all started pushing the glass against each other and having a complete carry on. Then it started to get very weird - it definitely moved by itself, and it was very strong and controlled, but very fast.

Anyway, I know most of you won't believe me

[LittleprincessinGOLDrocks]

No worries Butterpuff I'm a slow typer too. I realise now I sounded harsher than I meant to, sorry about that - was busy shouting at BT as I typed.

[sebsmummy1]

I would bet that most of the people on here who love to rock up on the Wooooo threads and call everyone idiots would not touch a Ouija board with a barge pole. Which is interesting as if there is no such thing as life after death/spirits/guides/ghosts then how in earth could they manifest through using a board ?

Personally I do believe in spirits but I don't believe in the power of a Ouija board in the hands of laypeople. I would never touch one because I am too superstitious to risk feeling as though I had somehow cursed myself or my family, but I think they work through fear and all the terrible stories you hear about misfortune after people use one just breeds that.

[PourquoiTuGachesTaVie]

So I haven't and wouldn't call anyone an idiot (in case that was aimed at me) but no I wouldn't touch one myself because I don't want to mess with my head.

I don't watch horror films because they affect me too badly so the last thing I would ever do is encourage my brain to think I've spoken to a ghost. I still don't believe in them, but as I said I believe in the power of the human mind.

And also in a long family history of mental illness that I have no wish to mess around with.

[SpeedofSound0]

Myself and a couple of friends were messing about with a ouija board as teenagers.

Anyway, it spelt out one of my friend's names, the word family, and then death. The glass flew off the table and smashed against the patio doors. We all freaked out (understatement).

Her father dropped dead with a massive heart attack a couple of days later, he was only 35. Her mother and her other siblings were killed in a RTA a month later.

Co-incidence? Maybe, but my parents went ape when they found out what we'd been doing.

Needless to say I would never go near a ouija board again, just in case. It may have been co-incidental, but my instincts tell me it was a premonition.

[SirChenjin]

How do you think they work through fear? We didn't fear it at all when we started off - it was just a huge giggle for 3 very young teenagers, and it was many years before t'internet so we only had a vague idea of what it was - we hadn't watched endless YouTube clips and worked ourselves into a terrified frenzy.

[Shoopshoop2]

My DM used an ouija board by herself. She decided one year, to use it to predict the Ascot race winners,despite not previously having gambled (that I know of). So off she trotted,to the High St. bookies for the first 3 days,placing her bets,and collecting her winnings. I relayed this daily news to my colleagues at work,and we decided that we'd all place a bet on her next winner. The horse lost,which must have been a relief to the bookies and that was the end of her blossoming career.

Coincidence?

[DogCalledRudis]

Never did and i think its very very wrong.

[hennybeans]

I have a first hand Ouija story. I was 10, my dad had died a year earlier, and my aunt (an adult) and I were using it. She was asking questions about my dad and then decided to ask how long would we live. The answer I got was 76. The answer she got was 56. I can remember very clearly the ages because my aunt was a bit 56 was so young and I was trying to cheer her up by saying 56 was sooo old. That experience always stuck in head and as my aunt got older I was sorting of waiting for her to get past 56.

My aunt died 5 years ago from a heart attack. She was 56.

Honestly, of course it could be just coincidence. But do I believe that I will live to 76? Yes.

I don't personally believe it works through spirits or ghosts but I'm not sure how a Ouija board works. I haven't touched one since. I don't think you should really know information like that as I think about it fairly often.

[sebsmummy1]

The fear comment I made was the after effects of using the Ouija board.

So taking SpeedOfSound's story as an example - her story only has any real weight because of what happened afterwards. If no one had died suddenly and unexpectedly there would really be very little to say. The glass suddenly spun off the table and smashed, could have been any one of the teenagers, could have been a wonky table, there is no telling. I'm sure there are tens of thousands of Ouija board stories where bugger all happened but of course no one tells those as they are boring

[sebsmummy1]

Pourquoi pretty much sums up my thinking. It's a case of messing with your head and screwing up how you view things. It's like saying bad things come in threes, before you know it you've had two accidents and you are looking out for a third. We can find what we are looking for in most things if we try hard enough, the good and the bad, the pure and the evil.

[SpeedofSound0]

I think that might be a mind suggestive thing.

A bit like when the Aborigines would point the bone at a person, the power of the mind. You could talk yourself into an early grave.

[Hakluyt]

Coincidences happen all the time.

[Jackie0]

I have done this with friends about 20 years ago. Answers were spelled out but I wasn't afraid because in my heart of hearts I thought someone was pushing the glass. However some very spooky things happened in the property afterwards and I moved out.
To be honest id do it again. I'm quite interested in spirit boxes and the like and have had signs from my grandmother around the time I saw a medium. I find it fascinating. I'm not easily scared at all.

[Panzee]

I used one at school and we all managed to frighten ourselves with odd goings on after. Typical teenage drama queen stuff!