FAQ: Ouija Boards (or Witch Boards)

We get a lot of people in here asking about Ouija boards. They are certainly one of the more publicly accessible divination tools, featured in any number of pop culture references. Everyone seems to have a story about when they used one, or their friend used one or their cousin used one. The actual term "Ouija Board" is trademarked by Hasbro and refers to the board with the triangular pointer that most people are familiar with and is likely the one used by someone you know. This board is considered a game and is available at places like Toysrus. This is why most boards that are created by other companies are referred to as "Witch Boards" or "Talking Boards."

What is a Ouija Board and how does it work?

Ouija boards are pretty much a flat board made of anything from paper to cardboard to wood (the more genuine ones will be made either of paper so they can easily be destroyed or of rosewood) with the alphabet printed on it and "yes, no, hello and goodbye." A guider is placed on top, which can be as simple as a cup placed upside-down. Using this simple tool, you call upon a spirit to talk to you, using the board and the guider as the medium through which you communicate. In other words, the idea is that a spirits you contact and question will guide the guider with their energy to the appropriate responses. Some people claim that it is really your own energy that guides it, in which case it is either you receiving the messages directly and translating them through the use of the board or you are in fact speaking to your subconscious. Either way, a Ouija Board is used to contact and communicate with spirits.

What's with all those stories about people being haunted/possessed/having bad luck/ having their houses burned down etc. when they use a Ouija Board?

We've all heard those stories. Once upon a time a friend of yours used a Ouija Board and then freaky things started happening. Some of these stories certainly are exaggerated or just plain urban legends but there is in fact a very real risk to using any sort of divinitory tool to contact spirits, particularly one as unspecific as a Ouija Board. What I mean by "unspecific" is that a Ouija Board, as opposed to say a tarot or oracle deck, has no particular energies or spirits that it is tapping into. A Ouija board can be used to talk to any spirit and therefore any spirit can answer, whether it is the spirit you wanted or not.

Using a Ouija board, then, is the spiritual equivalent to running into the middle of a busy city street with a megaphone and going "Hey! Bob! I wanna talk to you!" The person who answers may or may not be Bob, any other Bob, Bill who heard wrong, Sarah who was curious why you were shouting, Mary who was looking for Bob too, Creepy Steve, or worse, Creepy Steve pretending to be Bob. And then once Creepy Steve starts talking to you, and has an in with you, it's really hard to get rid of him. That's more or less what happens when people use Ouija Boards without any knowledge (like most people who pick them up from toy stores) and end up with trouble: they accidentally invited Creepy Steve to hang out with them.

Practicing safer spell-craft

So, lets say you want to use a Ouija Board or any other type of board to contact a spirit, but you obviously don't want to attract anything bad. What do you do?

You can minimize the type of negative effects you will receive with any sort of spell-crafting or divination by being safe. Magic is a tool, and like any tool, you need to know how to use it safely in order to use it effectively. Here are some tips:

- Learn to cast a circle: "Casting a Circle" is a very basic magical practice where you surround yourself with an energetic circle to prevent any energies you are invoke from leaking out. Casting a circle can be as easy as tracing an imaginary circle around yourself but to begin with you might want to use chalk or sea salt. Be sure to banish the circle when you are done! There are several ways to do this. You can smudge the circle with sage, purify and cleans it with water and with fire (i.e. incense), sweep the circle counter-clockwise with a broom among other things. Some rituals like the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram can be used both as an elaborate casting of a circle and banishing of it if done before and after. I suggest reading The Witch's Sheild by Christoper Penczak for a good book on different protection rituals and practices you can do to help keep you safe during a magical working.

- Be specific: If you want to contact Bob, make as sure as possible you get the right Bob. Write his whole name down and as much information as you can give: birthday, appearance, a picture, the emotions you associate with Bob, his signature, anything that would directly link to your Bob. The more specific you are, the more likely you will get the right entity.

- Have clear intentions: Don't just pick up the board and fiddle around with it until you get a result. Magic comes from will, so you need to will something to happen for it to work, and the clearer you are about what you want the easier it will be, and the less likely you will come across something you don't want. Also, the flavor of your intentions are important. Like attracts like, so if you have positive intentions, you are more likely to have a positive experience. Don't use a Ouija Board just because you are bored, or you want to impress your friends or you think it will freak out your little brother. Use a board to communicate with a loved one for peace of mind, or an angel for advice or to help a spirit move on.

The Ouija Board is a very simple tool and can therefore be very useful and powerful. But like with any tool you have to know how to use it correctly in order to use it safely. Now that you've got a few tips on how to use your board I hope you can do so without fear of becoming and urban legend.