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?

Surely Nigel wouldn’t use a word like “mutherfuckers” 😮

But if he did he’d at least spell it correctly.

I did one when I was a teen, nothing happened. I’m not a “woo” person (ignore the fact I read tarot, I do that for fun and I do not think it’s actual magic)- but my parents are pagan and have always been into that stuff. I find it fun in kind of a Halloween way, but I don’t buy into the “it’s sooooo dangerous” business.

My mum always told me “Don’t worry about dead people, it’s the alive buggers you need to watch out for”.

Hello everyone, just stepping in to note that we are getting a lot of reports about this thread and we wanted to politely request that Mumsnetters refrain from personal attacks. Mumsnetters who continually break our talk guidelines are likely to have their accounts suspended - this is something we would like to avoid happening.
MNHQ

Funnily enough, a friend of mine does tarot readings and feels the same way about it. She doesn't think it's real, she just thinks it can be a good way of helping people frame their thinking about their problems and choices to help them make the right decision. Like tossing a coin to make a choice. It's not that there's anything in the toss, but once the coin has "told" you what to do, you can see how you feel about it and that can be illuminating.

@ReneBumsWombats

That’s exactly how I see it too! I started doing it because I just had always found it an impressive skill (there’s a lot of cards and interpretations, it’s a lot to remember) but I kept doing it as a mental health exercise. It’s a reminder to consider different perspectives, and to examine what first comes to mind when you pull a certain card.

They were very popular in the 70s, I recall doing them then, I can't recall anything much happened, it was probably the Exorcist effect that caused them to be popular

Right. So a piece of wood was haunting the house...

Maybe it was Devilwood! (Osmanthus)

I did the ouiji board about 8 years ago in what is reputed to be the most haunted inn in the UK. We got 2 different entities come through both of which spoke to us. Yes I believe it happened. No I wouldn't do it again, although I don't regret doing it.

Oh yes. Nigel's got a nasty mouth on him.

Why do you think he had his 'accident'?

I do hope Mumsnet don't consider this a personal attack on Nigel.

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

And it doesn’t strike you as a far more obvious available reading of the situation that one bored school kid on a wet lunch break, or indeed more than one, used the opportunity and their knowledge of the other people in the group and their vulnerabilitiesto pretend to be their dead relatives/Beelzebub/predict the first to die etc?

This is bullying, not demons.

You mean he wasn’t beheaded accidentally? I’m starting to see Nigel in a very different light.

I couldn't even tell you how many kids at school claimed to have had paranormal experiences with Ouija boards, poltergeists, ghosts and whatnot.

We'd recently outgrown pretending to be astronauts and pirates, that restless imaginative energy had to go somewhere.

it was a form class of about 28-30 students, most of whomI had known for over four years at the time ( we were in what is now known as year 11). So I was very familiar with all of the girls in that form
People can believe what they want However, after seeing the reaction of those students fifteen year old me was put off trying to use one of these boards.

Why are you staying there if it’s so dull that you can only drink or watch Netflix??

Good point
i thought it would be an interesting place to stay but perhaps it's just the experience and the walks?

School girl error there. To be fair everyone knows you don't Ouija during wet lunch. Brings them all to the surface. Or is that worms? Might be worms.

This thread has made me lol more than any in ages. Thanks OP.

Always look on the bright side of life... This is what my granddad used to say.

All complete and utter nonsense, of course.

If you need proof of that then look up videos of people doing a ouija board blindfolded. When the board is turned upside down (without the participants’ knowledge) then they start moving the glass/whatever to the place where the THINK the answer they want to give is, but is actually gibberish (or even a blank area of the board).

Mass hysteria

Mass hysteria

Well yes, of course it was, but therein lies the problem: it is a means by which suggestible and credulous people may be whipped up into a frenzy of upset and long lasting trauma. In the case mentioned it was young girls, and a SWAT team of counsellors had to be helicoptered in.

So, despite its physical cardboard harmlessness, it seems that Ouija can actually be dangerous and harmful to the sort of people who have seen a ghost in the corner of their eye when in bed.

And that's why, despite the rage, insults and hypocrisy that you can expect when you state plainly the truth that it's not real, and whatever trauma people experience does not come from evil spirits, it's important to keep saying it. The more people are encouraged to believe this shite, the more damage it will do.

The more they are reassured about the truth that these boards don't possess any supernatural capabilities and the fear is entirely manufactured, the better.

You can invite evil into your life, but not by playing board games. That's a child's level of understanding about what it means.