Did you ever play with the Ouija board as a teenager at a slumber party? Or find one in your grandma’s attic and give it a try? Or did you walk past a Stranger Things version of the board at Target and pick one up out of curiosity? How about making one from scratch using a pen, paper, and deodorant cap and then seeing if it would work at a Christian summer camp?

Before I start this post, I need to add a qualifier:

My Ouija board story is not that compelling.  Rather, it is interesting – as are most stories about the paranormal.  

Also – this blog post is divided up into five quick parts.  First, my story.  Second, the short history of Ouija boards.  Third, a question: are Ouija boards innocent board games or sinister gateways to spirits?  Fourth, the bottom line on evil spirits.  Finally, closing thoughts and advice to parents.

My Ouija board story:

When I was 13 or 14 years old and in the beginning of my teenage rebellious stage, my parents sent me to a weeklong Christian summer camp in upstate New York called Delta Lake Youth Camp.  One afternoon, a few (also rebellious) friends and I were were huddled together in our cabin, staring down at a hastily assembled Ouija board made with a sheet of paper and an upside down deodorant cap.  I had quickly written out the alphabet and then put “YES” in one corner and “NO” in the other one.  

We were good to go. 

One girl, Paula, stood to the side with a frown on her face.  She was the oddball sincere Christian girl stuck with a bunch of not-as-good girls in a small cabin.  

And although I had been warned that Ouija boards were a doorway for the devil himself, my curiosity got the best of me and I found myself across from a friend with the planchette (aka deodorant cap) between us, asking innocent teenager questions. 

“Does Derick like me?”  I asked the board.  Derick was a blond-haired, blue-eyed boy at camp that I had a crush on.

I had two fingers on one side of the deodorant cap, and my friend had two fingers on the other side.  For a moment, nothing happened.  Then slowly, the cap between us moved to YES.

“Did you move it?”  I asked my friend who was playing with me.  She nodded no, with wide eyes.

We asked it more questions, with the board moving on its own each time.

“See, it works!” I told my friend Melanie, a skeptic.

I then asked it another question: “who do you want to play?”  (Meaning, who of us girls – and there were about six of us – would the Ouija want to interact with?)

Immediately the board sprung to life and spelled out P – A – U – L – A.  The cap moved so quickly and with such force – completely on its own.  

We all turned to look at Paula, who turned as white as a sheet and then abruptly left the cabin.  After that, we felt compelled to stop the game, as we were all thoroughly freaked out.  Later, both Melanie and I regretted our decision to interact with the board and never touched it again.

Quick history on Ouija Boards:

Ouija boards started out as Talking Boards, as a way for grieving families to communicate with their dead loved ones.  According to Wikipedia:

As a part of the spiritualist movement, mediums began to employ various means for communication with the dead. Following the American Civil War in the United States, mediums did significant business in presumably allowing survivors to contact lost relatives. The ouija itself was created and named in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1890, but the use of talking boards was so common by 1886 that news reported the phenomenon taking over the spiritualists’ camps in Ohio.^[12]

Science debunks the Ouija board and credits it to involuntary movement (with studies to back this up), however there is much anecdotal evidence and witness testimony to support the claims that Ouija boards are a tool to communicate with spirits.  

Are Ouija boards innocent or sinister?

Before I give my personal thoughts, below are two opinions from men who regularly interact with the paranormal and have heard hundreds of Ouija board stories.  To my knowledge, these men are not overly religious and are only forming their opinions based on stories they have heard firsthand, or their own direct knowledge.  

Tony Brueski, the popular podcaster of Real Ghost Stories Online (I am a subscriber!), was asked his opinion of Ouija boards during a facebook live webcast, and he said the following: “No- don’t go for it. It’s one of the those things where things could go horribly wrong very quickly, and it’s hard to know what may actually end up happening with your situation. So I would never suggest using it.” (October 20, 2017 Facebook Live, 18 minute mark.) Tony has heard close to 200 Ouija board stories on his thousands of podcasts.  He stated in another podcast that only 1 in 200 Ouija board stories he has heard are beneficial to the participant. (To hear a very compelling Ouija board story from Tony’s podcast, click here:  http://www.thegravetalks.com/the-devils-board/)

Another popular ghost hunter who has his own TV show (Ghost Hunters), Jason Hawes, had this to say about the Ouija board: “You’re asking something to enter you, and you’re opening yourself up to a world of trouble.  You’re asking something to use you as a puppet. I would never open myself to it.”  (source: https://kslnewsradio.com/1913712/ghost-hunters-biggest-fear-has-nothing-to-do-with-ghosts/)

Below are three (legitimate) Amazon reviews of Ouija boards for your consideration:

Okay so I bought this because I don’t believe in all that spirit or ghost talk type of junk. But I can honestly say so many crazy things was happening in my house after we open it up, we didn’t even play with it!! THINGS DISAPPEARED AND REAPPEARED more than once my husband thought I was lying until he dropped his lighter outside and couldn’t find, followed by the next day his lighter was sitting on the kitchen table! Wtf!!!! (Key Martin, Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2018.)

Listen, I bought this thinking I could use it to talk to my grandma. Instead, I made contact with a demon that openly admitted to wanting to hurt me. Since purchasing and using the board, the span of less than one week, I have been scratched twice, my sister and I have both heard knocking, I heard breathing, tapping, and knocking tonight alone. Also, my sister left for college and obviously turned her light off but I saw when I left my room that it was still on, 12 hours later. This thing worked but is no joke. Also, DO NOT PLAY ALONE!!! This allows easier manipulation and possible possession.  (ExoticShawol reviewed a product · Aug 5, 2017.)

And just to be fair and balanced, here is one five star review:  I was a skeptic to be honest. But with just a little practice my daughter and I were able to speak with dead relatives in no time. Knowing that those who have passed are still around and we have a way to contact them has been amazing. Just be careful, sometimes bored spirits will try and pass themselves off as people you know just to mess with you. If that happens, just know that you will likely have to move to a new house, and in some cases they may follow you and you may need to seek out a professional to help with their removal.  (DavidDoesReviews Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2018.). (Heather’s note: ummm – and this was a five star review?)

My opinion: I believe that Ouija boards can be/are definitely doorways for an evil spirit to communicate with you.  I truly believe that we were interacting with a demon that day many years ago at our Christian camp.  

“But what about using the board to communicate with dead relatives?” one may ask.  There is a very long answer to this question, but the short one is this: I do not believe you are communicating with your dead relative, but rather with an evil spirit who is purporting to be your dead relative.  I think there is a small place for human spirits to come down from heaven for a specific reason (at God’s command and for God’s purposes), but interacting with you through a Ouija Board is not one of those reasons.  More on this in a future post.

The Bottom line on demons/evil spirits:

I have been a committed Christian since my teen years and have studied this topic extensively. Here is what I have learned about evil spirits: 

Evil spirits cause fear, distract, destroy, divert, discourage and overall deceive a person so they will never have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  Evil spirits/demons are underlings of Satan and do his work, and they can oppress both Christians and those who do not have a Christian faith.

Anything you do to open up a doorway to them is a very bad thing that you should overall avoid.  If you open up a door to them, there is a remedy to close that door, and no, it’s not pointing the planchette to “goodbye” and other ways people say is the proper way to rid yourself of the spirit.  Here it is: first, try prayer.  God is a very loving and merciful God.  Ask God to help you to get rid of the evil spirits you have let into your home and into your life.  You can also consider repenting of your sin of interacting with demons and receive God’s forgiveness.  Then pray that God will make the evil spirits leave you, in Jesus’ name.  If you are already a believer in Jesus Christ, God gives you the authority to make the demons leave you in Jesus’ name.  Luke 10:19 says this: “I give unto you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and to overcome all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm you.”  

The bottom line of ridding your life of evil spirits after playing the board?  Pray to God to help you to get rid of them.  Then get rid of the board.   

Closing thoughts and advice to parents:

I do believe that interacting with a Ouija board opens a doorway of some kind for evil spirits to not only interact with you, but then potentially lead you down some path either towards more paranormal involvement, or – worst case – the spirit will think he has the right to set up shop in your bedroom at night and harass and terrify you.

If your teenager asks you what you think of the Ouija board, tell him or her to run for the hills.  If you find out they have been playing with it, ask them how they are doing with that, and ask if they have sensed any changes in themselves or in the home since they began playing with it.  If they say yes (or no!), walk them through the above steps.  And then help them to stop.

Remember, evil spirits want to cause fear, or distract/discourage someone away from turning to God (or turn someone from more closely following God).  By contrast, remember Jesus’ words: “The thief (Satan and his evil spirits) comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life – and and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)

If you are looking to interact with a spirit, why don’t you consider interacting with the Holy Spirit through prayer?  Ask God to come into your life and reveal Himself to you, speak to you, and fill your life with His goodness and love. Read the book of Mark in the Bible.  It’s short, sweet, and to the point; it gives the bottom line of Jesus’ earthly ministry.  

So leave that sinister Ouija board at the Amazon facility (or Target) where it belongs, and warn your kids not to play with it at their friends’ slumber parties – or at Christian summer camps.  

You will all be much happier and safer for it.

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PS: this video shows objects moving on their own and many other scary things – all because people chose to use the board!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lszt7kmEDNw

PSS: do you have a Ouija Board story?  I’m sure yours is way more interesting than mine.  Feel free to share it below!!!