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?

My uncle told me this exact story. Did it also involve a young bloke driving his car at speed at a wall and killing himself?
I doubt my uncle and your mum are the same person, so let’s put that Ouija Board experience down to an urban myth

I just googled that.
Fucking hilarious 🤣

I believe in it just enough to leave well alone. And I'm skeptical about most things

Yet you seem pretty bored by the prospect.

Tell your DH to bring a Monopoly, which is likely to be far more chilling than an ouija board, at least for whoever lands on Mayfair with hotels.

Monopoly is way more dangerous. You might get into a fight if someone gets Mayfair and Park Lane. I get real mean if I can't be the dog.

No one can say for absolute certain that nothing bad would happen as a result of an Ouija board. Lots and lots of people have reported supernatural experiences, who are you to declare them all liars?

As pp, if 'top scientists' are unable to explain everything, we sure can't either.

Yes, the recent thread on things you learned late in life showed me that 'Ouija' is a HASBRO trademark.

all the teen magazines I used to read told me NEVER to play with Ouija boards.

Because then you get a load of excitable, suggestible, drama-seeking teenage girls making the planchette spell out all sorts of bollocks and traumatising themselves.

It's for the same reason you don't let a five year old watch The Exorcist. It's not because the film is real.

They've explained it loads of times and proved it under lab conditions. It's ideomotor movement.

My stepfather was a very down to earth engineer but had an experience with a ouija he would not talk about.

My sister and childhood friend played with ouija boards as kids. The friend blames it for her sisters suicide and various bad stuff that happened in her family. I doubt it was to blame but they were a very catholic family, so maybe some of guilt contributed to an underlying mental illness.

If the DH in the OP doesn’t want to play then don’t force him or call him unreasonable for not wanting to.

Did ye aye

@ReneBumsWombats

The Exorcist is real. I've seen it on TV.

Not necessarily liars. People can be delusional, frightened, or confused.

I used to have a career working in old historic buildings. No end of claims of hauntings and goings on. Unfortunately for them I knew the buildings inside out and could explain (and recreate) these hauntings.

One time for example someone got very exercised because a big heavy prison cell door slammed, apparently of its own volition. The cell in question was a Victorian military cell and we know from records that someone hung themselves in there. It was commonly thought his angry spirit slammed the door, as it was really too heavy for most people to slam.

What this person didn't know, and which I did, is that if other doors in the building were opened in a certain order, the change in air currents and pressure would cause the cell door to slam. Which I demonstrated several times.

Another good one was people would INSIST they sometimes heard the pitter patter of children or animals feet running in a room which used to be a nursery.

They were hearing the leaky drainpipe dripping on the sill outside.

No ghosts. Just old odd buildings.

Apologies for the derail, but am I the only person who doesn't like board games? Can't imagine anything more dull.

On the subject of ouija, I'm a scientist but not a top scientist so my opinion won't count, but I'm not sure I believe or disbelieve, but I wouldn't see with it just in case

YABU

It is unreasonable to pressure someone into doing an Ouija board.

It is particularly cruel to do a sort of "either you are skeptical enough to go along with this as you think it does nothing, or you are scared and therefore not as skeptical as you make out, in which case I've gotcha!" type of attitude. A broad skepticism about what an ouija board actually does coupled with a disinclination to use one is not a position that needs to be unpicked by a bully. Just do something else.

I would never do one

I'm open minded to something between life and death

I saw the aftermath of a girl who'd done a ouija board when I was at school and I wouldn't mess with one

No good can come of it

Don't do it Op, its not something I'd ever mess with. Everyone has their opinions on this subject mine is it isn't a toy and should not be messed with. Your DH doesn't want to do it so do something else.

In the age of smartphones and affordable home security cameras, the persistent lack of evidence of any supernatural goings on of the likes claimed on this thread speaks volumes.

Yeah I was talking about supernatural experiences in general really, no one can say with certainty that everyone who claims they've seen a ghost or whatever, is a liar.

Ouija is a Hasbro trademark. It's literally a toy.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that a vulnerable person with dark and self-destructive thoughts would cause a planchette to spell out awful things and be subsequently influenced by the experience to engineer tragic events.

It does mean that vulnerable, suggestible people shouldn't play with Ouija boards. It doesn't mean that their tragedies were caused by evil spirits channelled through the board.

How come you always channel evil spirits who speak your language? Are the Chinese and Spanish ones so polite that they don't wish to confuse you?

Leaving the fascinating discussions about Ouija Boards aside for a moment (and I really have found them fascinating), there's something actually more disturbing here.

Turn it around for a moment and imaging the response to the following:

Husband OP: I'm going away with my wife next year, and I want to do something for a laugh, that's she's really uncomfortable with. AIBU to pressure her into doing it just because I want to and don't understand why she doesn't?

OP (on this thread!) think on that for a moment?

This.

I grew up in a family who used the ouija frequently, and I can honestly say all our experiences were positive.

BUT, and it's a big but......

If your husband doesn't want to use the Ouija board, then it would be hugely unfair to ask him to, or even use it in his presence. It is not something to mess around with if you don't know what you are doing.