The Encyclopedia Of Demons And Demonology

190 Ouija
was a scientific device for mediumship and therefore
qualified for religious status tax exemption. The federal
government considered it a “sporting game.” A federal
court ruled in favor of the government. Fuld appealed
to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1922 upheld the
lower court ruling. The Ouija has been a game or toy ever
since.
By the late 1920s, the Ouija fad was in decline. In 1927,
Fuld, 54, was on the roof of his company when he fell
three stories to his death. His company was taken over
by his sons, William and Hubert. In 1966, Parker Brothers,
of Salem, Massachusetts, the maker of Monopoly and
other games, bought the company. Parker Brothers purchased
the trademark and rights in 1966 and markets the
Ouija as entertainment.
Pros and Cons of the Ouija
Until the 1960s, the Ouija was considered to be mostly
benign in nature. People used it to try to contact the dead,
for divination of the future and for entertainment, to obtain
messages from spirits. Clergy have criticized and denounced
it, as they might any popular device or method
used by people for do-it-yourself spirit contact.
There are two theories as to the sources of answers
derived from a Ouija board. One school of thought
holds that the subconscious prompts the hands to spell
out the answers most desired. The second holds that
real entities are contacted, many of which are negative,
earthbound spirits who have not accepted their deaths
and are bent on possessing living human beings. A person
who uses a Ouija invites entities to communicate,
providing an opening through which evil beings gain a
foothold.
The Ouija is credited with helping users discover
spiritual insights and self-truths and aiding in creativity.
In 1913, Pearl Curran, a St. Louis homemaker, began receiving
communications from “Patience Worth,” a 16thcentury
English woman, via the Ouija. Worth, speaking
in an old English dialect, dictated an astounding volume
of poetry and novels. In 1919, Betty and Stewart Edward
White were using a Ouija as a lark with friends, when
suddenly Betty was instructed to “get a pencil” and take
dictation. Thus began a long relationship with the “Invisibles,”
who seemed to be higher entities, who dispensed
metaphysical wisdom. Stewart compiled it into The Betty
Book. In 1963, Jane Roberts was using the Ouija when she
met Seth, who purported to be a highly developed entity,
who dictated highly regarded books on metaphysics. The
Pulitzer Prize–winning poet James Merrill composed his
epic The Changing Light at Sandover from two decades of
spirit communications via the Ouija. The New Age author
Ruth Montgomery began her channeling with a Ouija
then moved to automatic typing.
The Ouija has not been without problems, however.
Throughout its history, people have claimed to be instructed
to commit crimes—even murder—via the Ouija
and have blamed cases of insanity on the board. However,
it is possible that such unstable individuals were already
so inclined and were not “forced” by “spirits” to do anything
beyond their inclinations and control.
Sexual assaults, beatings, torment, OBSESSION, and POS-
SESSION also have been blamed on spirit contacts initiated
via Ouija boards. At first, users think they are talking with
dead people they know or friendly spirits. After benign
beginnings, the communications turn dark and threatening
as malicious and evil demons reveal their true selves.
The demons engage in vicious attacks such as physical injury,
rape, nightmares, visions of monsters, poltergeistlike
disturbances, and even levitation of victims. Some victims
must seek psychiatric help. Some psychiatrists and psychologists
say the “possession” is not caused by entities
but by material dredged up from the subconscious. The
“evil spirit” may be only the prankster archetype.
Since some people expect problems from Ouija use,
it is difficult to ascertain how many problems are genuine
versus self-fulfilled expectations. Some problems may
arise from open-ended use without control or discernment:
People ask for any spirit to manifest. The great
English magician and occultist ALEISTER CROWLEY was
critical of this approach and once stated, “When you use
the Ouija board, you give permission for any unknown
spirit to communicate with you. Would you open the
front door to your house and let in anybody who felt like
it? Of course not.”
ED AND LORRAINE WARREN, demonologists, called the
Ouija “a notorious passkey to terror, even when the intent
of communication is decidedly positive in nature.” Of the
thousands of demonic and negative cases the Warrens
claimed to have investigated in their careers, they said
four of 10 involved problems resulting from the Ouija. Ed
said that all doors to the supernatural—the Ouija, séances,
conjuring and candle rituals, and automatic writing devices—“lead
down a road of misfortune, terror, and ruin.”
One of the Warrens’ most sensational cases involved
a Ouija board. In March 1974, they were consulted by the
Donovan family, whose daughter, Patty, had been using
a Ouija board for months to talk to a spirit who said he
had died as a teenager. Patty asked the spirit to manifest,
and the Donovan household began experiencing unpleasant
phenomena of destruction, rains of rocks, levitation
of objects, the manifestation of black forms, and noises.
The Warrens investigated, and the case was turned over
to Catholic clergy for exorcism. A successful rite was
performed on May 2, 1974, during which a demon manifested
as a seven-foot-tall being with horns, cloven feet,
and a tail, according to the Warrens.
Responsibilities of Users
Many paranormal investigators and occultists say they
have no problem using the Ouija, and the key is responsible
use. Any spirit interface device should not be used
for entertainment or for open calls to the spirit world; nor