Light After Life

Exploring the mysteries of our existence: Life, Death and Beyond. Afterlife, Mediumship, Spiritualism ~ Death is not the end; I am but waiting for you for an interval ...

3 posters

    History of the Ouija Board

    Candlelight.kk
    Candlelight.kk
    .
    .

    Posts : 3290
    Location : London

    History of the Ouija Board Empty History of the Ouija Board

    Post by Candlelight.kk Sun 21 May 2017 - 13:03

    31 Oct 2016, 21:13

    The Ouija board's mysterious origins: war, spirits, and a strange death
    Historian Robert Murch has spent years studying the Ouija board. He explains how the civil war and the Sears catalogue fueled a phenomenon


    History of the Ouija Board Ouijabdlogo
    The board got its name from a medium after it apparently spelled out ‘Ouija’ for her in 1890.

    If you grew up in the US, you’re probably familiar with the Ouija board. Whether you’ve seen it used in movies like The Exorcist or huddled around it with some friends at a seance, the mysterious talking board has long captivated us with its promise to connect the living and the dead.

    And though the board is a fixture in American pop culture, very little is known about where it came from. According to the historian Robert Murch, the history of the Ouija is as mysterious as the workings of the board itself. Murch has spent years tracing the history of America’s favorite seance tool and we asked him to tell us a little bit about what he’s learned so far.

    After the civil war, spiritualism exploded in America
    The mass deaths in the civil war created a widespread desire to contact the dead, and mediums began marketing their services in major cities around the country. “Everyone lost a father, a son, an uncle, a grandfather, a cousin,” Murch said. “Death touched everybody in a way that had never happened in the US.” According to Murch, many families had to grapple with the bodies of their loved ones never being recovered and spiritual devices like the Ouija board answered questions that no one else could. “They gave people peace of mind because they couldn’t get answers any other way.”

    The name Ouija comes from a rooming house in Baltimore
    Like Band-Aid or Kleenex, the trademarked name Ouija is now generally used for all talking boards. But the name was coined by Helen Peters, a medium who was using the board with her brother-in-law Elijah Bond one night 1890 in Baltimore. When she asked what they should call it, the planchette spelled out “Ouija”, which the board told her meant “good luck”.

    The building where Peters named the board is now a 7-11 convenience store, which has a plaque commemorating the event on the wall.

    Peters got the first patent on the Ouija board but the business was soon taken over by the American entrepreneur William Fuld, who began to market the board, especially in national catalogues like Sears.

    “Ouija – The Magic Game. Remarkable, interesting, and mystifying game. Great mirth and making game for parties. Apparently answers questions concerning past, present, and future,” reads one ad in the Sears catalogue.

    “We would not be talking about the Ouija Board today had it not been for the brilliant marketing of William Fuld. He just knew how to change the story, retell it,” Murch said.

    Helen Peters, ‘the mystery lost to history’
    As the board’s popularity, and profit, increased, most of the early investors sought to highlight their role in the creation of the Ouija board. But Helen Peters wanted nothing more to do with it after the board caused serious damage to her family.

    When some civil war family heirlooms went missing from Peters’ home, Peters asked the Ouija board who had taken them. According to Peters’ grandson, the board indicated a member of the family. “Half the family believed it and half the family said ‘b*******’, including Helen,” said Murch. The event created a conflict that was never resolved, and tore the family apart.

    After the fight, Peters sold all of her stock in the company. “Until her dying day, she’s telling everyone: don’t play the Ouija board because it lies,” Murch said.

    The mysterious death of William Fuld
    William Fuld had his own Ouija-related family troubles. In 1919, he cut his brother out of the business and the two never spoke again. That year was a particularly good one for sales following a world war and a flu epidemic. In a 1920 article, the New York Times compared the popularity of the Ouija board to that of bubble gum, and in 1927 the Baltimore Sun reported that Fuld had personally made $1m from sales of the board.

    He continued to open new factories, building the largest – a 3-story building in Baltimore – after the Ouija board itself told him to “prepare for big business”.

    In early 1927, he went up to the roof of the building to supervise the replacement of a flag pole. According to the Baltimore Sun, “he was standing near the edge of the roof, grasping an iron support of the pole to study himself, the workmen said, when the support suddenly pulled away and he toppled over backward.”

    As in a movie, Fuld initially grabbed hold of the sill of an open window, which suddenly closed, sending him crashing down to the sidewalk below. He broke several ribs, but was expected to survive, until a bump in the road on the way to the hospital sent one of the fractured bones through his heart and he died.

    His family continued to run the business until 1966, when they sold it to Parker Brothers, which was later bought by Hasbro, whose website warns: “Handle the Ouija board with respect and it won’t disappoint you!”

    _________________________________________________

    https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/oct/30/ouija-board-mystery-history


    Further reading: 23 Terrifying True Tales Of People Messing Around With Ouija Boards
    Misty
    Misty

    Posts : 441

    History of the Ouija Board Empty Re: History of the Ouija Board

    Post by Misty Sun 21 May 2017 - 13:05

    01 Nov 2016, 14:52

    I dont like them. Ouija boards are not such an in thing here, but in America they are sold in the toy shops as a game like monopoly or ludo! I think i would freak out if I found any of my kids messing about with one of those.
    Stardust
    Stardust

    Posts : 903
    Location : City of Light

    History of the Ouija Board Empty Re: History of the Ouija Board

    Post by Stardust Sun 21 May 2017 - 13:07

    02 Nov 2016, 09:50

    Candlelight.kk wrote:
    In early 1927, William Fuld went up to the roof of the building to supervise the replacement of a flag pole. According to the Baltimore Sun, “he was standing near the edge of the roof, grasping an iron support of the pole to steady himself, the workmen said, when the support suddenly pulled away and he toppled over backward.”
    As in a movie, Fuld initially grabbed hold of the sill of an open window, which suddenly closed, sending him crashing down to the sidewalk below. He broke several ribs, but was expected to survive, until a bump in the road on the way to the hospital sent one of the fractured bones through his heart and he died.

    Either he was very unlucky or there was spooky intervention to ensure he didn't make it to live another day.  ghost
    Candlelight.kk
    Candlelight.kk
    .
    .

    Posts : 3290
    Location : London

    History of the Ouija Board Empty Tales of the Ouija Board

    Post by Candlelight.kk Wed 9 Oct 2019 - 14:59

    You can read a more comprehensive history of the Ouija Board HERE

    Notwithstanding the link to the marketing PR of this once popular game, I can't emphasise enough the dangers of mucking about with Ouija, whether using the board, or makeshift apparatus that folk have concocted themselves.  I have taken part in such an experiment once - and once only, never again!  It was when I was living and working in Libya, and long before I became actively involved in the field of mediumship. A small group of us decided to do an experiment in the living quarters of another expat who was leaving Libya in a few days' time, returning to England.  His place was in the same village compound where I was living at the time and his things were all packed up and ready to go, so the place would be empty in a few days  (none of us had felt comfortable doing it in our own place where we were still living).  I have written an account somewhere, either on this forum or possibly the Spiritlove forum, all about the details of what happened.  It was NOT a nice experience, and certainly one that I would not want to repeat.
    At the very least, I would suggest to anyone that still wants to 'have a go' at this type of gathering to make sure that you make proper preparation in ensuring that all involved are fully protected; before, during and after.

    Here are some Tales of the Ouija Board,
    taken from here: https://www.liveabout.com/tales-of-the-ouija-p2-2594833
    (Disclaimer:  None of these stories should be taken too seriously; they are, on the face of it, non-verifiable anecdotes related by anonymous people online.)

    Why does the Ouija board have such a sinister reputation? It may be because the stories of the negative experiences with them are the ones that get the most attention. Rarely do people publicize the Ouija sessions in which little or nothing happens, and the sessions that are positive or benign in nature... well, they don't make good stories to tell your friends. But make no mistake: negative, frightening – even terrifying – things can happen as a result of a Ouija séance. The unanswered question, however, is: What is the source of this kind of experience? Is it from a demonic or negative spirit realm, as some believe? Or does it arise out of the dark recesses of our own fears in our subconscious?

    While you're mulling those questions, consider these chilling Ouija experiences.


    The Ouija Brings Dread  

    Last year my best friend and I decided to experiment with a Ouija board, just to see if it worked. We made our own out of paper and used a regular drinking glass as a pointer, so we were pretty skeptical. We were in for a shock.

    It took a while for the board to "warm up," but once it did, it became apparent that we were surrounded by relatives who had passed away. The glass moved extremely slowly and there was nothing scary being said or done. However, halfway through our session, two of our other friends came bursting into the room laughing and joking. Once they calmed down, we got back to the board. This time the glass moved extremely fast. We could hardly keep our fingers on. It started spelling out names and words without us even asking questions. The words spelled out included MURDER and LUST. We ended the session immediately as we were pretty freaked out.

    After that, everything went back to normal for a few days, but then I started waking up at 3 a.m. every night with an unexplainable feeling of dread. This waking up continued for a few weeks and I started becoming depressed for no reason.

    Then one night at about 1 in the morning, my friend was walking me home. As we were walking up the road, he claimed he saw a black figure of a man leaning on a fence staring at us. We laughed and joked about the place being haunted. We used to hear bells chiming every night on that road. That night I woke up again, but this time I was being pinned face down on my bed by what felt like a man. I tried to struggle, but I couldn't move. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. He started speaking in my ear, but I don't know what he said. Then he was gone. I hid under my covers (like that would help) and soon fell asleep. When I woke up the next morning, I put it down to a nightmare, though it felt so real.

    A few days later, we had family visiting. My gramma, who claims to be very perceptive, came in and said she felt there was a presence in the house. My mum said she thought so too, ever since I'd done a Ouija board in my bedroom, but she didn't think it was harmful. My gramma disagreed and said she thought it was evil.

    The next bit is really hard for me to explain as I don't really know how I felt. As they were arguing, I began to get the same dreadful feeling I had so many other nights, and I began to feel something was wrong. It felt as though I was being pulled into a tunnel further and further away from the room I was in. I tried to tell my mum I didn't feel right, but I couldn't make myself talk or move. It felt as though something was trying to control me. I finally managed to make myself talk, but I screamed it: "There's something wrong with me!" The next thing I knew, my sister was beside me, hugging me, and I was crying and shaking uncontrollably. My family said I'd had what looked like some kind of seizure.

    We got a priest to bless the house, and while he was doing so, all the pipes in the house made a huge screaming noise. They didn't stop till he'd finished the prayer. After that, everything went back to normal. I still can't explain what happened to me. It scares me to think of it. – Jessica M.


    Ouija Prankster  

    This happened in Mobile, Alabama in 2008. One afternoon, some friends and I decided to make a home-made Ouija board. We tried it out a couple of times, but nothing seemed to happen.

    A few weeks passed and a friend, who lived with me at the time, and I were looking at some photos of us at a club on my computer. We started to talk about how some orbs appeared only around us in the pictures. Then we got on the subject about ghosts. She got up from the computer and sat on the couch with my brother. When I got up and walked toward them, my computer screen suddenly shut off and turned back on. Then the light next to the couch faded and turned a darkish red. Everyone got the chills!

    We shrugged it off until a few days later. I lost $100 that I had sworn I put in my dresser drawer. My mom and I looked everywhere around the house, including countless times in the drawer. Then out of nowhere my mom found my money in the same drawer on top of everything in it!

    I was starting to think that we attracted a ghost through the Ouija board. My suspicions were correct when one morning my favorite stuffed animal was missing. I thought maybe someone was playing a prank on me because I knew I put it in my mom's room next to the bed. I looked everywhere and still could not find it. I asked my friend, who was in the shower, if she moved it. Of course, she hadn't. I became so frustrated! I knew that it had to be because of something paranormal because these things did not occur until we made that Ouija board.

    I decided to take the Ouija board to the dumpster and get rid of it for good. When I walked back inside, my friend was out of the shower and said, "I found your stuffed animal." I asked, "Where was it?" She replied, "Oh, I saw it when I got out of the shower. It was right next to the door in the empty laundry basket." My heart dropped. Nothing strange has happened since. – Jessica


    Ouija Triggers a Poltergeist  

    This happened around 2002 in Potsdam, Germany. I was 11 and this was my first experience. My sister, who was 12 years old, decided to try an Ouija session with little self-made cards on which the letters were drawn, a table and a glass. She and two classmates were in the living room of our little apartment. (My mother had an Ouija experience when she was young and was fine with my curious sister's idea, and she took me and my little brother to the kitchen to not disturb my sister.)

    We waited for some minutes in there. I stared lazily at the door to the corridor. The door was mostly glass and I could see everything that was going on behind it. Then I saw a person walk past the kitchen. He could only have come from the living room and seemingly was heading for the exit. I was puzzled. First, the "man" was pitch-black and as tall as an ordinary grownup. Second, there was no audible sound of the living room door, nor footsteps. He could not have been there. I brushed it off. I believed my mind was playing tricks on me.

    Then my little brother, who sat across from me, asked, "Did you see that shadow, too?" I was astonished and we shared impressions.

    Shortly after that, my sister and her friends came into the kitchen and stated that the session just ended because the spirit left. This was the start of paranormal activity around us. Even as we moved on to another house it went on. Because of my sister's innocent curiosity in the Ouija board, our home became haunted.

    It started, in most cases, when it got dark and our parents went to sleep, so they never witnessed anything and thought we were kind of nuts. It was hard. Lights switched on when my sister and I headed for a dark room. (That was actually polite of the spirit!) There many things, from shadows, to lights going on and off, to knocks on doors, to doors that flew open, to footsteps and cold spots.

    There was also an extremely nasty smell in one of the bathrooms. It came without warning and quickly left. It was clear that this was no "normal" smell that you could imagine existing in the bathroom. It was like something foul had lain in the tub for a long time. Once, something pushed on my mattress from beneath while I was lying on it and reading a comic.

    When we were 16 and 15, it all ended because we started to ignore every unnatural occurrence. We had no nerve or power left to stand any more of this game. Fortunately, the spirits cooperated and I haven't seen or felt any more paranormal activity. – Jeannette K.


    Ouija Prediction  

    My story took place in Cambridge, Minnesota in 2006 when I was 12 years old. I had just started 7th grade. I had a combination of two types of paranormal things happen. It was a Saturday afternoon and I was bored. My best friend Becca was over. We took out the Ouija board I got last Christmas. I had asked the board, "What was I in my past life?" I was joking, thinking that these things didn't really exist. The board started to spell out REBECCA LYNN PELTZERMILLER WAS THERE. That's all it said.

    We tried asking another question. "Will I meet anyone else in my past life here?" It spelled out YES. "Who?" we both asked. VINCENT DANIEL DOUGLASS.

    Two years passed add I had met no Vincent Douglass. I just joined the musical Annie and – you guessed it – the guy I acted with was named Danny Douglass. It was very strange. We had never met before, but I felt like we had known each other all our lives. That was when I remembered the forgotten Ouija board. So I asked him if Danny was his real name. He laughed and said his first name was Vincent, a family name that had been passed down through generations. I was definitely shocked. – Inez M.


    The Winged Shadow  

    This incident occurred about 13 years ago when I was 15 in a city near Perth, Western Australia. At the time, several strange things were happening, which I believed had to do with a séance my friend and I had played around with. Nothing much exciting happened during the séance, and to be honest I thought my friend was pushing the glass and never thought much of it – until I began waking up at 3:15 a.m. every morning with a genuine sensation of total terror.

    I would lie awake in my bed with the covers over my head as I had a strange sensation of being watched and was afraid of what was in my room with me. I would lie there like that until the sun came up. I was always terrified of looking in a certain direction, and upon inspection I found the glass which had been used in the séance. This took me by surprise as the glass had been disposed of, so I was certain that the glass was the reason for my sleepless nights. I once again disposed of the glass; however, I kept experiencing the same feelings, and once again upon inspection came across the same glass that I had already thrown in the garbage twice. This time I was determined to get rid of it, so I took it outside and smashed it on the ground.

    I continued waking at 3:15 a.m. to the minute every night without fail, and I started seeing strange, dark shadows. The shadows started as perfect black balls, which would circle my room, then seem to disappear through my window. I put this off to paranoia and lack of sleep and simply tried to ignore it and go back to sleep, still with my head under the covers.

    Other people started noticing the shadow, too, and at normal waking hours, saying that the end of the house where my room was seemed a bit creepy. Gradually, the shadows seemed to get bigger, but I continued to ignore them... until one night.

    The family dog woke me, again at 3:15 a.m. He was sitting next to my bed and he was making a crying sound. I figured the dog needed to go out, so got up and let him outside. As soon as I was back in bed, the dog was at my window, squeaking and carrying on, so I got back up and let him back inside. The dog followed me to my room and once again sat by my bed whimpering. I then took him back outside, and even though he sat at my window still crying, I made him stay out there for a bit, because I didn't want him coming back in and waking me up.

    I eventually gave in and let the dog back inside. The bathroom light was on, letting light flood the hallway as I walked back to my room, where the dog started growling. I moved closer to the bathroom door so the dog could see it was me, as I was worried he was growling at my shadow. I called him up to me as he was still growling and said, "Hey, it's only me. Come here. What's the matter?" The dog walked slowly toward me, still growling, and sat next to my leg, growling at something behind me.

    In a flash, my thoughts raced to, Oh my god, there is someone in the house... and turned around and started running down the hallway. What I saw was something that has never left my mind and something no one has ever believed when I have told them. I saw what seemed like a huge bird. It had huge outstretched wings that would have touched the roof and almost the floor. Its body ended where the wings did and neither seemed to touch the ground. As it followed me down the hallway, the wings stayed outstretched and it seemed to glide as it moved. I did notice a small head in between the wings, but no features that I recall, and the head seemed hooded rather than round and connected to the body without a neck. The creature seemed more shadow like than of flesh, and as much I have tried to put it down to my own shadow, I am certain that what I experienced and saw was real and could have in no way been my own shadow. I remember mostly the wings and the enormity of them as they towered over me and how it moved as it followed after me until it slipped into another room.

    I am not sure what happened to it after this, but my sister, who was older and didn't believe in anything paranormal, had some strange experiences involving a black shadow and some kind of sleep paralysis, where she was surrounded by a bunch of people laughing at her as the black shadow circled over top. – Jo


    My "Brother," Wiz  

    I've been using the Ouija board for almost seven years now and have had very few bad experiences and none that I would consider evil. I do have one particular entity that I talk to pretty regularly named Wiz. He claims to be my spirit guide. He also claims to be my brother from a previous life – in 700s Scandinavia! He's not really good with numbers. I haven't been able to get any winning lottery numbers from him yet, but he is decent at telling me about events yet to come, at least to an extent.

    Sometimes, he would tell me what he thought I wanted to hear, but there is the occasional nugget he does give me. Before May of 2008, my wife had never used a Ouija in a serious attempt to contact the other side. After convincing her that it was safe, in May '08 in Columbia, South Carolina, she and I managed to make contact with Wiz. Wiz and I were old friends by then, and although she had heard me talk about him, she had never talked to him herself.

    Wiz told us that she would get pregnant and would be due in June of '09. By October, I had nearly forgotten all he said, my notes tucked away along with notes for the novel I'm working on. We found out at the end of October that she's pregnant, and at the time of the first doctor's appointment she was due July 1st. During the second doctor's visit, the doctor adjusted the due date to June 23! About a week later, I was going through my novel notes and found the ones from the Ouija conversation. I nearly fell out of my chair.

    Wiz has given me the whole backstory for my novel – my life in 700s Scandinavia – and has, I feel, kept watch over me as I work on it. My novel is currently on HarperCollins' online slushpile, but Wiz has told me that HarperCollins will not like it but it will be picked up by another publisher. Whether or not he's right about that, I don't know. Whether or not he's right about anything, I don't know. Whether or not I'm just reading too much into coincidences, I don't know. Is it my subconscious that has told me these things? I don't know, but if it is, wouldn't that be an amazing thing in and of itself? – Kenn Phillips


    Ouija Sends Mom to the Hospital  

    I live in Marion County, Fairmont. West Virginia. This is also the city where my experience took place. I am now 49 years old, but I was 12 years old when this happened.

    In 1978, my mother (deceased from cancer 2006) bought me a Ouija board thinking it was a game we could play together. So one evening while dad was at work (coal miner), we got out the board, lit a candle and put it in the middle of the table. We placed our fingers lightly on the planchette.

    Mom asked if there was anyone there that wanted to speak to us. I was giggling. She asked again. The planchette then moved to YES. I told mom she was moving it and she said she was not. Mom asked, "Who are you?" The planchette then went to each letter and spelled JACKSON. We did not know anyone by the name of Jackson, first or last name.

    Mom then asked, "Are you a good spirit?" The planchette moved to YES and then NO. Mom asked, "How did you die?" The planchette did not move from the middle of the board. I was getting scared at that point. So mom said, "Since you are not going to tell us, we are going to say goodbye now." The planchette slid to NO. Mom said, "We have to go." The planchette then went to GOODBYE.

    We took our fingers off the planchette and it was sitting in the middle of the board. The planchette flew off the board and the round plastic piece where the middle pointer is was cracked. Mom put it all back in the box and put it up in my closet.

    Where we lived, the floor was close to the ground and my room was at the end of the house. And that night there was a growling sound coming up through the floor in the corner of my room. I went and got mom; she came in and it stopped.

    My mom smoked cigarettes and that night her cigarettes smelled like sulfur; she said they tasted like sulfur, too. My dad could not smell it or taste it. I could smell the sulfur strong.

    Three nights later, the growling started up in the same corner of my room. I again went and got mom. dad was home and mom told him to get the flashlight and go out and look. While the growling was happening, dad come in and said that nothing was under there. My mom proceeded to yell at it and tell it to stop. It got louder and sounded more like a guttural growl like it was going to come through the floor after my mom. It finally stopped that night.

    The next morning my mom felt sick. We took her temperature and it was 102°. Dad took her to the hospital and they admitted her. She was diagnosed as having an infection clear through her whole body. She was in there for a week. The doctor told my dad that if he had waited one more day to bring her in, it could have killed her. The whole time she was in the hospital, my room and the whole house was quiet.

    Mom and I truly believed the spirit of Jackson died from having an infection in his blood and was never treated for it and died from it. That is my first and last experience with a Ouija board. My dad threw it away at the dump yard. I warn others now about the dangers of having and using a Ouija board. - Carol

      Current date/time is Tue 19 Mar 2024 - 10:45