Ouija Boards by Yesache

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

A ouija board (correctly pronounced "weejah" /wiʤə/ although often pronounced "wee-gee" /wiʤi/, also known as spirit board or talking board) is any flat board with letters, numbers, and other symbols, used to supposedly communicate with spirits. It uses a planchette (small heart-shaped piece of wood) or movable indicator to indicate the message by spelling it out on the board during a séance. The fingers of the participants are placed on the planchette that then moves about the board to spell out messages. Ouija is a trademark for a talking board currently sold by Parker Brothers.[1] While the word is not considered a genericized trademark, it has become a trademark that is often used generically to refer to any talking board.


The first undisputed use of the talking boards came with the Modern Spiritualist Movement in The United States in the mid-19th century. 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.

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".[3] The Fuld name would become synonymous with the Ouija board, as Fuld reinvented its history, claiming that he himself had invented it. Countless talking 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.

Directions on How To Use The Ouija/Spirit/Talking Board:

Place the board upon the knees of two persons, lady and gentleman preferred, or on a small table. Place the fingers lightly but firmly, without pressure, upon the board so as to allow it to move easily and freely. In from one to five minutes the tablet will commence to move, at first slowly, then faster, and will be then able to talk or answer questions, which it will do rapidly by touching the printed words or the letters necessary to form words and sentences with the foreleg or pointer.

2nd - Care should be taken that one person only should ask questions at a time, so as to avoid confusion, and the questions should be put plainly and accurately.

3rd - To obtain the best results it is important that the persons present should concentrate their minds upon the matter in question and avoid other topics. Have no one at the table who will not sit seriously and respectfully. If you use it in a frivolous spirit, asking ridiculous questions, laughing over it, you naturally get undeveloped influences around you.

4th - The Ouija is a great mystery, and we do not claim to give exact directions for its management, neither do we claim that at all times and under all circumstances it will work equally well. But we do claim and guarantee that with reasonable patience and judgment it will more than satisfy your greatest expectation."

5th - The board should be kept smooth and free from dust and moisture, as all depends upon the ease with which the feet of the table can glide over the surface of the board. Rubbing with a dry silk handkerchief just before use is advised.

 

This is not a game remember that..

[AZureGray]

When I was a teenager, my best friend and I used the Ouija Board all the time. The spirit called itself, "Booboo", and it hated my friend's sister. She would try to sneek into the room where we were, even hiding in the hallway outside the bedroom, and Booboo would know, it would spell out cuss words every time! Booboo never treated the two of us badly, in fact it really liked us. I never had any bad vibes from the board.

Booboo told me the initials of all three of my husbands, which I had forgotten. Then many years later my girlfriend and I reconnected and I remembered the initials, and it was true!

I haven't used a board in many years now but I truly believe that what you bring into a situation, positive or negative, you get that back!
Goddess Bless,
AZureGray