At Sinister Coffee and Creamery, we love coffee, ice cream, and a good paranormal investigation. You can read more about our investigations here. Read Summer of 96 to get a firsthand account of their Ouija experience. Today's topic “Call Me Ouija” explores the history behind the “game.” Get ready for an insight into one of the paranormal world’s most intriguing and stigmatized tools.
Is there a connection between Ouija boards and demons? Spiritualism and the desire to speak to lost loved ones? The mystery behind the Ouija Board is explored in this paranormal blog.
Description
The “Ouija” is a flat board with the letters of the alphabet positioned in two semi-circles above the numbers 0 through 9. At the top you will find the words “yes” and “no”. Somewhere on the board you see “hello” and “goodbye”. A teardrop-shaped device “planchette,” with a small cut out at the point, is used to maneuver about the board revealing the chosen responses.
In The BEGINNING
The history of the Ouija board is just as mysterious as how the “game” works. In February of 1891, the first few advertisements started appearing in papers. The ads described a magical device that answered questions “about the past, present and future with marvelous accuracy” and promised “never-failing amusement and recreation for all the classes,” a link “between the known and unknown, the material and immaterial.” Another advertisement in a New York newspaper declared it “interesting and mysterious” and testified, “as Proven at Patent Office before it was allowed. Price, $1.50.” Cite link
Call me “Ouija”
Helen Peters, a medium and sister-in-law to 1 of the four investors, is credited with naming the board “Ouija.” During a session, they asked the board what they should call it. The board replied “Ouija.” When the group asked the board what that meant it answered “Good luck.”
““For such an iconic thing that strikes both fear and wonder in American culture, how can no one know where it came from?””
STRIKING fear
Talking to the dead was not unusual during the era of spiritualism (1840-1920) from which the “Ouija” board emerged. In fact it wasn’t until the making of the 1973 movie The Exorcist that the board took on a darker persona. Almost overnight, the harmless game from the Pittsburgh toy company, became the thing of nightmares and scary stories. The big screen had latched on to the fear it could instill among its watchers.
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*We do not recommend any kind of investigation without proper safety measures. We also do not recommend instigating entities for fun or entertainment. We take our investigations very seriously and offer many follow ups to ensure we have left the places in better shape then we found it.