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Secrets Of The Ouija Board

Mar 31, 2014
by Caroline Miller
Linda Rodgriguez McRobbie, The Secret of the Ouija baord
2 Comments

If there’s a child anywhere in the world who hasn’t attended a gathering where ghost stories were told, I’d like to meet that extraordinary youngster. Scaring ourselves with tales from the grave is a rite of passage and given the number of horror films that are popular, we seem never to outgrow the habit.

 When it comes to the spiritual world, I admit I’m a skeptic. The only ghost I believe in is a ghost writer. But I do recall my first encounter with the Ouija board. The night was dark and stormy and I was attending a slumber party where the hostess had just turned 11. One of her gifts was a Ouija board, and when she pulled it out so we could play, the rest of us giggled, covering our lips with our hands to hide our nervousness. None of us was certain about the power of the Ouija board but everyone wanted to give it a try. After a few minutes of squabbling, we decided upon a question. I don’t remember what it was, but I suspect it was some version of “Does Jimmy like Angie?”

 The moment our fingers touched the planchette — the gizmo used to spell out letters — it began to move. All of us let out a squeal, sharp enough to cut through the plasma of any ghost, but the letters kept coming until they spelled out “Y-E-S.” Angie blushed with pleasure while the rest of us laughed, thrilled to have been scared out of our wits.

 I know now the movement we experienced that night was random, a consequence of the ideomotor effect: small “automatic muscular movements that take place without the conscious will or volition of the individual.” (The Secret of the Ouija board,” by Linda Rodriguez McRobbie, excerpted from the Smithsonian Institute in The Week, 2/14/14 pg. 36-37) But that doesn’t rob the board of its mystery which began as far back as 1891.

 That was the year when Elijah Bond and Helen Peters turned up at the U S patent office to register their game. A skeptical chief officer eyed the contraption and demanded a demonstration, insisting that the board spell out his full name. To his astonishment, it did and once convinced of the board’s powers, the man wasted little time filing the paperwork.

Was some spirit really behind the planchette’s movements that day in 1891? Does the Ouija board really have the power to call up spirits? Maybe. Or maybe, Elijah Bond, a patent attorney, was aware of the agent’s name. We’ll never know. But since that day children all over the world have thrilled to the uncertainty of why things go bump in the night.

ouija board

 

 

 

 

 

(Courtesy of spicenewyorkcity.com)

 

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2 Comments
  1. Janette March 31, 2014 at 2:35 pm Reply
    Good piece, brought back memories :) I had a few encounters with the Ouija Board as a teenager, I was always very freaked out by it. My friends brother hid in the closet one time and scared the life out of us, I steered clear after that. lol
    • Caroline Miller April 1, 2014 at 9:00 am Reply
      Your reply made me smile, Janette. Who hasn't experienced the hijinx of someone's broher. Couple it with a Ouija board and you have a memorable experience.

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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