Are Ouija Boards Satanic?

Aggie Catholic ^ | 6/9/2010 | Marcel LeJeune

[markomalley]

Q - Is using a Ouija Board ok, if just for fun? Also, what do you think of the comments at the bottom of this website? I can't believe that Hasbro makes this and Toys 'R Us sells them!


A - Thanks for the questions. I think my answers might just surprise some of our readers.

The origin of these boards is not from a game. Rather, they come from a practice of "channeling" or "divination". Channeling is asking the dead to give us answers to questions or power and is an ancient - and dangerous - practice. Thus, the word "occult" = "hidden". The Bible speaks directly to this practice:

Let there not be found among you anyone who immolates his son or daughter in the fire, nor a fortune-teller, soothsayer, charmer, diviner, or caster of spells, nor one who consults ghosts and spirits or seeks oracles from the dead. Anyone who does such things is an abomination to the LORD, and because of such abominations the LORD, your God, is driving these nations out of your way. - Deuteronomy 18: 10-12

He practiced soothsaying and divination, and reintroduced the consulting of ghosts and spirits. He did much evil in the LORD'S sight and provoked him to anger. - 2 Kings 21:6

And when they say to you, "Inquire of mediums and fortune-tellers (who chirp and mutter!); should not a people inquire of their gods, apply to the dead on behalf of the living?" - Is 8:19

So, the history of divination and channeling is ancient, but it has some more modern forms, which have become popular again from various sources, including - New Age practices, the Occult, fortune-telling, Wicca, astrology, and "games" such as the Ouija Board. All of these have Pagan spiritual origins and should never be practiced by Christians.

Ultimately, this is a dangerous practice because it is an attempt to seek spiritual power from somewhere other than God. If this is the case, then demons or evil spirits are most likely the ones supplying it. We open ourselves up to demonic influence if we do so - to the point of having possession being possible down the line.

Some might think this is an overreaction and that it is just fun. I have heard some say - at most, it is a spooky time for kids to pretend they can talk to the dead. But, demons can work through this kind of attitude to quietly induce someone to their way of thinking and acting.

A personal disbelief in the power of Satan, does not make his power go away. Just ask an exorcist who has had to fight with such demons. They will not beat around the bush in regards to such practices.

The danger is very real.

Thus, the Catechism states:

2116 All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future.48 Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

2117 All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a supernatural power over others - even if this were for the sake of restoring their health - are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another's credulity.

So, in answer to your question - I believe the Ouija Board and other kinds of New Age practices to be very dangerous. I also think it is scandalous that they are marketing it as a "game" and so many people accept such things uncritically.

[Excellence]

It depends. Do you live in a pre-Cartesian world or a post-Cartesian world?

[JeffChrz]

U-P-Y-O-U-R-S
(Monty Python fans will get it.)

[Jewbacca]

“Actually, so is meteorology.”

It’s true. All weathermen are agents of Satan.
(Yes, sarcasm.)

“Divination of any sort is a no-no.”

Actually, it’s divination trying to use the “spirit world” or “magic” that is forbidden.

Trying to predict the future based on observations, trends, common sense, etc., is perfectly fine.

[BubbaBasher]

What is the Jewish perspective on this?

[stevem]

I think they are toys.

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

I’m not surprised toy stores sell these now.

Ummmm..., they were selling them, as toys/games, about 50 years ago, too ... LOL ...

[Star Traveler]

You were asking ...

What is the Jewish perspective on this?

Well..., according to the Bible, it is "stoning" ... :-)

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

I think they are toys.

They're sold as "toys", because they wouldn't sell as well if sold as a "tool of the devil" ... LOL ...

[Jewbacca]

Pretty much just gave it.

Deut. 18:10-12:

“There shall not be found among you any one that ... uses divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer, for all that do these things are an abomination unto the L-rd.”

I would also note In I Sam. 28, Saul went to fight the Philistines, but before doing so he went to visit the witch Ein Dor who divined.

She raised up the prophet Samuel, and, well, that went badly for Saul.

[GonzoGOP]

It’s true. All weathermen are agents of Satan.

The agents of the Prince of Darkness would get their predictions right more than once a week. And I just can't see Steve Doocy from Fox & Friends being an agent of evil. The Farmer's Almanac on the other hand gives me the creeps.

[Jewbacca]

I think it might be hanging.

[fatima]

What kind of work do you do tired&retired?Is there a name for it?

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

My belief is if you play with the board you open yourself up to evil. I don’t advise “playing” with evil.

Yeah, Satan and his fallen angels, those evil spirits -- come visiting "by invitation" ... some people are awfully stupid in what they "invite" into their lives... that's for sure.

[GonzoGOP]

What is the Jewish perspective on this?
Well..., according to the Bible, it is "stoning" ... :-)

Perfect, every time i have seen a Ouija board out everyone involved was drunk or stoned.

[Star Traveler]

That would be okay by me ... :-)

[Jewbacca]

“And I just can’t see Steve Doocy from Fox & Friends being an agent of evil.”

He’s part Sweedish. Everyone knows the Swedish are the descendants of Cain.

[WVNan]

You hit the nail on the head. The demons won't leave. I cannot caution people enough: DO NOT BRING ONE OF THESE DEVICES INTO YOUR HOME! In the 40s, being totally ignorant of spiritual forces, our Dad got us one for Christmas. As children, we were probably protected by the Holy Spirit, but my Mom was especially attracted to the thing. She invited the "entities" in. They came. They arrived into her being and overwhelmed her to the point where she attempted suicide several times. My Dad finally took her to her parents, who were committed Christians, and left her there.

Those parents surrounded her with prayers day and night until she was able to function again. She managed to function in the world, although in a different way from her real self. You could tell that she still had a demon or two with her because she would talk to them when she thought no one was around.

I brought her to live with me when she was 87. Twice she physically attacked me. The first time, I was able to subdue her. The second time I came face to face with the last demon. It was taking a last stand for her body. I saw it and will never forget it. I invoked the name of Jesus and demanded that it leave my Mother and go back to the pit of hell, in the name of Jesus. From that time until she died a year later, my Mom was back.

Nobody can tell me that demons are not real. I am of sound mind and body and I know what our family went through. I also know how it started. DO NOT FOOL WITH A OUIJA BOARD!

[trisham]

From Wikipedia:

China See also: Fuji (planchette writing) One of the first mentions of the automatic writing method used in the Ouija board is found in China around 1100 B.C., and it is first recorded in historical documents of the Song Dynasty. The method was known as fuji 扶乩 "planchette writing". The use of planchette writing as a means of ostensibly contacting the dead and the spirit-world continued, and, albeit under special rituals and supervisions, was a central practice of the Quanzhen School, until it was forbidden by the Qing Dynasty.[4] Several entire scriptures of the Daozang are supposedly works of automatic planchette writing. Similar methods of mediumistic spirit writing have been widely practiced in Ancient India, Greece, Rome and medieval Europe.[5] [edit]Greece

One source notes that, according to a Greek historical account of the philosopher Pythagoras, in 540 B.C. his sect would conduct séances at "a mystic table, moving on wheels, moved towards signs, which the philosopher and his pupil, Philolaus, interpreted to the audience as being revelations supposedly from an unseen world."[6] However, one source calls both claims into dispute, claiming that fuji is only a form of spirit writing, but not the actual use of a board, and claiming that there is no record of Pythagoras himself or his students actually having used this method of achieving oracles or divinations.[unreliable source?][7] [edit]Spiritualist

The use of the method of using an actual board first became popular with the Modern Spiritualist movement in The United States in the mid-19th century.[citation needed] Methods of divination at that time used various ways to spell out messages, including swinging a pendulum over a plate that had letters around the edge or using an entire table to indicate letters drawn on the floor. Often used was a small wooden tablet supported on casters. This tablet, called a planchette, was affixed with a pencil that would write out messages in a fashion similar to automatic writing. These methods may predate modern Spiritualism. [edit]Toy

During the late 1800s, planchettes were widely sold as a novelty. The businessmen Elijah Bond and Charles Kennard had the idea to patent a planchette sold with a board on which the alphabet was printed. The patentees filed on May 28, 1890 for patent protection and thus had invented the first Ouija board. Issue date on the patent was February 10, 1891. They received U.S. Patent 446,054. Bond was an attorney and was an inventor of other objects in addition to this device. An employee of Kennard, William Fuld took over the talking board production and in 1901, he started production of his own boards under the name "Ouija".[7] The Fuld name would become synonymous with the Ouija board, as Fuld reinvented its history, claiming that he himself had invented it. The strange talk about the boards from Fuld's competitors flooded the market and all these boards enjoyed a heyday from the 1920s through the 1960s. Fuld sued many companies over the "Ouija" name and concept right up until his death in 1927. In 1966, Fuld's estate sold the entire business to Parker Brothers, who continues to hold all trademarks and patents. About ten brands of talking boards are sold today under various names.[7] [edit]

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

Perfect, every time i have seen a Ouija board out everyone involved was drunk or stoned.

Perhaps it may be nowadays, but it wasn't 50 years ago ... :-)

[WVNan]

You have one? That may explain your name.