Posted on 07/09/2012 7:05:14 AM PDT by marshmallow
Beloved of spiritualists and bored teenagers on a dare, the Ouija board has long been a source of entertainment, mystery and sometimes downright spookiness. Now it could shine a light on the secrets of the unconscious mind.
The Ouija, also known as a talking board, is a wooden plaque marked with the words, "yes", "no" and the letters of the alphabet. Typically a group of users place their hands on a movable pointer , or "planchette", and ask questions out loud. Sometimes the planchette signals an answer, even when no one admits to moving it deliberately.
Believers think the answer comes through from the spirit world. In fact, all the evidence points to the real cause being the ideomotor effect, small muscle movements we generate unconsciously.
That's why the Ouija board has attracted the attention of psychologists at the University of British Columbia in Canada. Growing evidence suggests the unconscious plays a role in cognitive functions we usually consider the preserve of the conscious mind,.
Take driving your car along a familiar route while planning your day. On arrival, you realise you were not in conscious control of the car, it was your "inner zombie", said Hélène Gauchou at the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness conference in Brighton, UK, this week. "How can we communicate with that unconscious intelligence?"
Gauchou's approach is to turn to the Ouija board. To keep things simple her team has just one person with their finger on the planchette at a time. But the ideomotor effect is maximised if you believe you are not responsible for any movements - that's why Ouija board sessions are most successful when used by a group. So the subject is told they will be using the board with a partner. The subject is blindfolded......
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
I know it too - I warned my children to stay away and luckily they listened to me. Growing up we tried it once and the board made a wierd but harmless prediction about the closet light bulb blowing out - which it did shortly after. My mother- who is Christian but who normally has no use for occult phenomenon - immediately threw the board out.
Those are real and very creepy.
My friends and I lived in a time and a place when our parents rarely needed to say no to us because we knew where the lines were and there really wasn’t that much that we could do to get in trouble. But for some reason we collectively felt an overpowering urge to defy any warning about the board and probably the first time any of us had questioned our parent’s knowledge about anything.
What did our experience make us actually believe? That it was best to mind our parents. Our world was very, very black and white and up to that point in time everything could be explained. Like going into the cemetery at Halloween, the wind in the trees could mimic what we imagined ghosts would sound like - if there were such things. We collectively came away from the Ouija Board experience feeling very, very frightened. Not sure of what but knew we would never put ourselves in that situation again.
ok, thanx
Duh. Because I was there when it happened. Believe me, I know.
The results of the “game” can be absolutely devastating to everyone around it. Those who don’t believe in demons don’t believe in Jesus. Jesus was very aware of demons and talked about them and cast them out. They are real and I have seen my share of them, thanks to that little “game”. Had to deal with the last one when my 90 year old mother attached me and had to be pulled off of me. No 90 year old has that kind of strength, and I saw the bloody thing. It hated me because I keep myself armed with the Spirit of Christ at all times. Never never let one of those boards get near your children or your family. That so-called psychologist will be the cause of much sorrow.
Oooh, spooky. I have had bad experiences with Scrabble games as well. They are mass produced in the same plant that makes Ouiji boards and Candy Land as well.
My only experience with one was when I was 10. It was raining so hard that the teacher wouldn’t let us outside for recess, but she pulled out some board games and decks of cards so we could play indoors for recess. Then, another teacher needed her for something, so she stepped out for about 10 minutes. (I question the wisdom of leaving 24 fifth-graders unsupervised that way.)
Anyway, as soon as she stepped out, one of the kids said they had a ouija board in their backpack, and several others immediately decided he should bring it out. The summer before I’d been at a church camp where one of the instructors told horror stories about his own experiences with one, so I moved as far as I could get from it and started praying my fool head off that nothing would happen.
Nothing happened. The selector wouldn’t even move out of the empty space in the middle. It would move within that space, but the kids using it couldn’t get it to select anything. It was eventually pronounced “defective”, but I could swear the thing was watching me.
That is entirely correct - the “mediums” are speaking with demons. That is why sacred scripture condemns the practice.
ok
Just now read your response and your home page.
God bless you and your family.
My unconscious intelligence is rather similar to yours. In addition to the few, wandering skills it seems to have a keen sense of smell - and churns up memories when it catches a scent.
It is also very greedy, and will slip up images and messages about food.
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