The Mysterious Ouija Board

 

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Hey, y’all, it’s Weird Wednesday! Where on some Wednesdays, I blog about weird stuff and give writing prompts.

Today: The Mysterious Ouija Board: Who are you talking to?

The Ouija began as a benign religious practice of Civil War-era Spiritualists, who were seeking to contact beloved family members who had died or met the more horrifying fate of vanishing into the theater of war. The board’s darker reputation began with the 1973 movie The Exorcist, which showed demonic consequences for playing.

The truth, of course, is that the planchette’s movement is caused by the ideomotor response— it’s our subconscious speaking, not spirits. Maybe not spooky, but still really cool (and okay, maybe a bit spooky). But if we’re going to seek writing prompts from beyond the veil, we need the scary stuff. So have a seat and dim the lights… let’s find out who we’re talking to.

Check out the blog post for the whole story and some writing prompts from beyond the veil, such as:

• It’s all in your head. So what if we decide the Ouija can’t actually place calls to regions beyond? But what if it’s also not the ideomotor effect moving that planchette? Now we’re talking psychic powers. Telepathy is a common Ouija explanation: the idea that when a group asks a question, somebody there knows the answer and psychically transmits it to the group, who then moves the planchette by the usual subconscious means. The flip side of that is telekinesis, where somebody moves the planchette using the powers of their mind, whether consciously or not. You could have a character discover their own psychic powers of either type by using a Ouija board, or they could already be adept at using their gifts. What kind of answers do they want the board to give?

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