Ouija boards and pendulums, how do you know its not...

tarotbear

I have stated on these boards many times in the past:

"DO NOT OPEN A DOOR THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO CLOSE"

Anything can be malicious, no matter what it's original intent. If I take a toothpick and stab you in the eye with it, that inocuous wooden splinter is suddenly 'malicious.'

Haven't you learned anything for watching old horror movies? Conjure up a demon - he'll be there! Seance up the Devil - he pops up! Do a chant guaranteed to 'raise Hell' - and hellions will appear!

Personally - I distrust Ouija boards.
 

Milfoil

Moderator note

Please lets keep the discussion open and friendly without getting personal. Tarot had the same reputation as Ouija boards some years ago mostly with no good reason.

Treat ANY connection with Spirit with the same due respect as you would meeting someone new. Most living people have way more capacity to cause harm than Spirits have so it does behove us to look to ourselves first. What first impression do we give, are we scared little rabbits wide open to being mind ******? Or are we experienced, savvy and able to face fear?

Your own inner state is highly important and your reactions will be what guides the experience. Teenagers sitting around a Ouija board for kicks will get exactly that, a kick up the . . . . Yet an experienced medium will be able to face anything that comes along, not without fear, but with reserve, calm and the knowledge/ability which enables them to control the situation or end it if necessary.

Ouija is a tool, like any other, it concentrates the intent but like any other tool, learning how to use is with precision and mastery is most important.
 

NikkiB

So, let's get this back on topic!

When I was a teen a friend had been experimenting with the ouija board and said that she was getting all kinds of messages that she was evil and such. I was very curious and agreed to try it with her. She told me to ask it anything I wanted. I asked it a lot of questions that my friend didn't know the answer to, but I did, and they were all right. I wasn't pushing the little thing either, it seemed to move of it's own accord. It didn't say anything else, no comments about evil or anything else!

Well, one of the questions I asked the board was how old my mother was. I got the answer that I was thinking, but I realized later that night that my mother had recently had her birthday and wasn't the age I was thinking any more. To this day I believe my subconscious mind was guiding the little thing (what DO you call it? LOL) around that board. I know I didn't do it on purpose, but unless some spirit was reading my mind to get the wrong answer, it just came from me.

I do believe that it would be possible for some other entity to control the board, that just wasn't my experience. I agree that if you choose to experiment with the ouija you should try to focus your intent to the positive before beginning. If you are having negative experiences you should probably stop.

Thats really interesting!
 

mza

Careful.

It is very easy to attract what you fear without realising it. You're afraid of malice, if you open that door it might walk right into your life. Could be while you are on the board or you find it filtering into your life somehow through people.
 

tarotbear

There are many books out there (unfortunately) titled 'Kindred Spirits' , but years ago Meewah gave me one that was a true story about two men who were lovers and poets and they used a ouija board EVERY NIGHT FOR ALMOST THREE YEARS, and the masterwork poem by one of them is considered to have been 'given' to him, line by line, by the spirit they connected with through their ouija board. It was written by a close friend of theirs ... and it is creepy in a way no piece of fiction could possibly be.
 

Tiddles

There are many books out there (unfortunately) titled 'Kindred Spirits' , but years ago Meewah gave me one that was a true story about two men who were lovers and poets and they used a ouija board EVERY NIGHT FOR ALMOST THREE YEARS, and the masterwork poem by one of them is considered to have been 'given' to him, line by line, by the spirit they connected with through their ouija board. It was written by a close friend of theirs ... and it is creepy in a way no piece of fiction could possibly be.
tarotbear, was that poem published, do you remember the name or the author?
 

tarotbear

tarotbear, was that poem published, do you remember the name or the author?

Yes, it was published, and the two men were famous American poets. Google does not turn up THAT particular 'Kindred Spirits,' so if I have a chance I'll see if I can dig it up since most of those books were boxed up in the move.
 

Tiddles

Was it James Merrill and his epic poem The Changing Light at Sandover? That was written through messages he received from a Ouija board. He used the board for many years and also ritually cleansed himself before using it, yet towards the end of his life he cautioned that people should not use Ouija boards.
 

tarotbear

Was it James Merrill and his epic poem The Changing Light at Sandover?

I believe Merrill is one of the two men. Still doing some research ...

I Found it! FAMILIAR Spirits:

Familiar Spirits: A Memoir of James Merrill and David Jackson

(ISBN 10: 0670894591 / ISBN 13: 9780670894598 )

Alison Lurie