Chauran - Spirit boards for beginners: the history & mystery of talking to the other side

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

Spirit Boards for Beginners: The History & Mystery of Talking to the Other Side 2014 by Alexandra Chauran.

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First e-book edition 2014

E-book ISBN: 9780738739410

Book format by Bob Gaul

Cover photo and design by Lisa Novak

Editing by Laura Graves

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Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

www.llewellyn.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

Contents

: History of the Ouija Board

: How the Ouija Board Is Used

: The Ouija Boards Reputation

: Spooky Experiences

from Crystal Ball Reading for Beginners

This book is dedicated to my ancestors,

on whose shoulders I stand: Grandma Bessie;
Grandpa Nick; my dad, Roy Pawlucki, who is proud
of my writing even though he never saw it in life;
and all those whose names are yet unknown.

introduction

C ome on, its just a game! The other boys looked down at Tommy as he stood poised at the tree house ladder, ready to descend and run away from the Ouija board and the scary noises of his friends backyard at night. Two other faces leered over flashlights as Josh and Anthony urged him to stay. You arent chicken , are you? They werent allowed to use candles, but the flashlights cast an eerie glow, making them look like demons summoned by the Ouija board itself.

Tommys mother wouldnt even let him play with a Magic 8-Ball to answer questions. She claimed the fluid-filled plastic orb was evil, so he was pretty sure she wouldnt want him using the Ouija board to talk to spirits. That night, he had already seen the planchette move on its own, and he had heard ghosts rapping on the wood outside the tree house. He definitely didnt want to push his luck any further. Wordlessly, he turned his head and escaped the tree house, bare feet pounding into the soft earth, fleeing to the welcoming light cast by the windows of his friends house. Let Josh and Anthony risk their own souls. It was their choice. Tommy didnt want any part of that evil.

Similar scenarios have played themselves out in countless club houses, basements, and bedrooms around the world. Even though the ink is applied to a Ouija board by printers in a factorynot by witches or magiciansand the plastic message indicator called the Mystifying Oracle Planchette is molded just like any other toy, the game is feared. Ouija, which now glows in the dark, is packaged, shipped, and then displayed in toy stores, sitting rather unremarkably alongside other board games. Generations of children and adults have been tickled, amazed, and frightened by incredible and downright creepy Ouija board experiences. The humble manufacturing process of the Ouija board doesnt mean that magic and witchcraft dont exist; there are still people today who practice witchcraft, which is the art of magic. The modern definition of magic states that it is both an art and a science of creating change in the world that aligns with the practitioners will.

Prepare for a wild ride through the practices that pre-date the Ouija board such as channeling, automatic writing, and similar board-based and dowsing instruments found in cultures around the world. Explore the early origins of talking boards and spirit boards and their religious use by members of the Spiritualist Church. Learn how a succession of entrepreneurs and shrewd marketing men slapped a patent on an ancient tool and launched the phenomenon of the Ouija board, now an essential entertainment tool brought out at every American childs Halloween slumber party.

In the chapters ahead, several controversies that surround the Ouija board will be discussed. First, well view the Ouija board with a critical eye and ask a few skeptical questions. Do the spirits of the dead really have nothing better to do than move a plastic and cardboard toy? Or is it more likely that excited hands are just moving the planchette in accordance with subconscious cues from the brains of the people using the board?

Follow the Ouija board through history as we trace how it is tied to the boom of a mediumship fad of the late nineteenth century, in an unprecedented movement that explored supernatural phenomena. Unfortunately, it spawned some of the biggest hoaxes of the millennium, completely fooling audiences including a president of the United States. Many victims were parted from huge sums of money by fraudulent mediums.

The religious controversy will be discussed through the voices of people who use spirit boards as part of their own spiritual practice, as well as those who believe that the use of the Ouija board is forbidden by God himself. Astoundingly, this simple toy has inspired people to write novels and scriptureor alternatively, to destroy or discard the board itself out of fear.

Families from similar walks of life make very different choices about the Ouija board. Some parents and caregivers who provide children with access to learning materials and safe playthings shun the Ouija board as dangerous. Others believe that the Ouija board is nothing more than good, clean fun, and can share stories from their own childhoods about Ouija board games played with friends.

Finally, make sure you have enough lights on as you read the chapter filled with bone-chilling true stories of creepy experiences that happened to people while using the Ouija board. From startling revelations to terrifying physical phenomena, these are the real stories that people will never forget, and will give you pause to think. The board is laid out in front of you and the planchette points to YES. Will you proceed?