Why do ouija boards have such a bad reputation for spirit communication while other tools such as digital or tape recorders seem fine? After all, a tool is a tool, and a spirit is a spirit, right?

Well ouija, also known as spirit boards or talking boards have been used as parlor games for kicks and giggles for quite some time. Having these boards being sold in the toy department has not helped it become a tool for a serious investigator either, with kids all over the country trying to get in touch with some tragic or frightening character in order to scare themselves and their friends. I remember visiting a friend as a child, and she brought out the ouija board and tried to call up Sharon Tate who was killed brutally by members of the Charles Manson cult. Of course as kids, we didn't know about setting up protection first, and amongst all the silliness and giggling, what serious spirit would even attempt communication? We had gotten messages of the threatening kind, which is quite normal when kids play with a spirit board.

One of the problems with a spirit board is that you never know if someone else is actually pushing the planchette. The only way to be sure, is to operate the board by yourself, which is not recommended. The ouija board has gotten such a bad reputation as a tool to bring in tricky or even evil spirits, that it’s possible that that is exactly what it will attract. Between the operator's subconscious wondering if they will establish communication with something negative, to the negative spirits themselves possibly being drawn to the boards due to years of negative associations with them. A thoughtform of sorts where people basically project a certain energy around an object can act as a beacon to those spirits. Especially those lower entities that like to feed off of people’s fear energy. Just like animals can sense fear, so can lower entities, and they seem to thrive on it, so will be attracted where ever fear is present.

A tape recorder or digital recorder seems more scientific to most people, and it is definately more objective. After all, if the operator takes proper precautions of making sure there is quiet in the area, any voices that come through could possibly be that of a spirit. Unless you are using a super sensitive microphone in which case you may be recording your neighbors! The subjectivity comes into play in translating what you are hearing. Some people think the disembodied voice is saying one thing, while others may think it’s saying something else entirely. Unless it is a very good class “A” recording, there are bound to be several interpretations of what is being heard. People don’t tend to approach a recorder with fear in the back of their mind, so they are not mentally calling out to negative spirits. There is more of a mindset of curiosity as to whether they will reach anyone or not.

In actuality you can still receive messages from negative spirits through a recorder. It’s just not nearly as frequent. And in fact some people can receive accurate messages from positive spirits with ouija boards. With both methods, or any other type of spirit communication, you should always surround yourself in protection. You may even wish to allow a negative spirit to speak, but protect yourself first. Many ghosts were nasty people in life, and are still nasty in spirit. You may want to hear what they have to say as to why they remain behind, but you don’t want them harming you nor following you, so protection is a must. Another problem with negative spirits is they may be prone to lying. So unless the information is something you can validate through research, take what they say with a grain of salt.

Where spirit boards are concerned, another point to note is that the operator is opening themselves up physically to the spirit to an extent, where the spirit is actually moving the hand of the operator in order to move the planchette. This can be dangerous in some cases. With tape or digital recorders there is no need to allow a spirit to use any part of your body. They manipulate sound that registers on the recording equipment. The living do not even need to be present to get results.

S. Marlin April 14, 2010