For wanting to do a Ouija board for a laugh?

[EbbyEbs]

Next year DH and I are staying in a castle thought to be the most haunted in Britain. DH says he doesn’t believe in stuff like that, I’m on the fence really but more towards not believing. I think the most likely scenario if ghosts ARE real is that they’re historical residue and not intelligent entities. But even that is a stretch.

So, I’d like to do a ouija board when we’re there for a laugh. The castle is in the middle of nowhere so there isn’t much else to do on an evening other than drink (which I don’t do) and watch Netflix!

DH is point blank refusing saying he isn’t messing about with stuff like that. But he’s a non believer??! So what’s the harm?

If he doesn’t believe in it, am I being unreasonable to ask him to do it?

If you don't want believe a word I say, that's your prerogative

I'm interested that you think I "want" to disbelieve bollocks.

But as well as my prerogative, I think it's also my duty to reassure frightened and suggestible people that they don't need to be scared of this because it's been proven, over and over, to be caused by ideomotor movement. Blindfold the players and turn the board upside down and see what happens.

But I do certainly agree that people shouldn't be pressured into playing it because their fear will cause them to spell out all sorts of crap and traumatise themselves. For some people it's too late and to them, I repeat: this silly Hasbro board game is not real, it's not occult, evil spirits aren't coming to get you and you do not have to be frightened or guilty.

@ReneBumsWombats

But I do certainly agree that people shouldn't be pressured into playing it because their fear will cause them to spell out all sorts of crap and traumatise themselves.

At least we agree on that. 🙂

Here's the thing though; either it's complete bullshit in which case you're just moving a glass around a board for absolutely no reason which is a bizarre thing to find fun.

Or it's not all bullshit in which case you're messing with demonic entities which is a bizarre thing to do to yourself if that goes wrong.

In both cases it's absolutely pointless. Get a lovely bottle of wine and chill instead.

What's the objective of the game?

I'm not sure you understood the comment, but glad you agree with it, because it's true.

Why would you try to force someone you love to do something they really don’t want to?

It's a bit of mass produced cardboard, and we know how it works which has fuck all to do with ghosts.

@CapMarvel It's a bit of mass produced cardboard,

agreed

and we know how it works

do we, really?

which has fuck all to do with ghosts.

You may think so.

They know so. In the same way it has nothing to do with dragons or unicorns.

Yes, we know exactly how it works. It's been proven, over and over. Saying "do we?" and "you think so" is not a counter the zillions of times it's been proven under controlled conditions. It just makes you look even more unable to make a case.

It's getting even more interesting that you framed belief in this earlier as something people "want" to do or not.

Try the necklace thing I mentioned earlier.

Quite apart from everything else, an evil spirit that is polite enough to wait for an invitation via your Hasbro board is probably not something to be very scared of. Fear and counter the actual evil embodied in humans instead. That's where true hell resides.

Agree with @Dotcheck
Why insist on doing stuff that OP doesn't enjoy just for the fun of it esp if he's had a bad experience in the past?
Surely, there'd be other stuff that both of you enjoy that can be done on a different holiday.
Not sure the interest in all these dark stuff anyways?!
There's a lot other things to worry in life than adding some other weird/scary stuff to the list IMHO🤔

Just don't

I wouldn't do it if DH isn't keen. The thing is, he wouldn't find it a laugh and might be traumatised by the experience. Not that I'm suggesting anything "woo" would happen, but it could still be very upsetting. Stuff like that is only fun if everyone is in on the laughs.

DH and I went on a ghost walk one time at an old house which ended up being absolutely hilarious and not scary apart from a couple of jump scares. That's the level of scared you want to aim for, not someone being very upset by it. DD1 was old enough to go at the time but we knew that she would have found it upsetting as she'd have not been able to tell what was made up so we didn't take her.

It's really interesting to me that ouija boards have been subject to so much research.

How is it that given all the reputable research there has been no evidence of anything bad happening? Cover up bu the scientific community?

Lots of people have evidence of something bad happening. A family friend's daughter was traumatised and had to have counselling for a long time. That's something bad happening. It's just not worth it.

Nobody has any evidence. None.

Maybe that film beetlejuice got it right and you have to spend a couple of hundred years working after your death.
That's why the ghosts out enjoying themselves are all centuries old.
The newly departed are employed as translators.

Mary - verily, thy end ith nigh..

Nigel - ok, erm, right. Give me the glass - you're dead, mutherfuckers.

Me.
We could make it a triple.
Say 5 candymans, three bloody Marys and finish off by printing out a ouija board and asking how much the afterlife translators get paid.

What's the evidence that her psychological damage was caused by evil forces coming out of the board?

The spirit world is never real until it happens to you.

When I was at secondary school one of the form classes used an ouija board during wet lunch.
They all came out looking utterly petrified and counsellors had to be called in.
Before this incident I was very sceptical about the whole ouija board being devilish.
However, that incident at school scared the life out of me and as a result I do not have any desire to use one

I suppose that's one way of putting it.

I played ouija board at the church youth club I went to (never been religious, just went because my friend went and knew the adults who ran it, who didn't know what we were up to)

It was quite boring, nothing happened.

Although, my brother did sadly commit suicide 10 years later. So I guess I could blame that if looking for reasons. It's not one I've thought of before.

Maybe I should get a ouija board out and ask him (black humour!)