The Ouija board is actually an offshoot from the turn of the century obsession with mediumship. During that era, it was not uncommon to have a parlor full of guests utilizing automatic writing as a means of entertainment and hopeful contact with the beyond. This form of entertainment eventually lead to the creation of the Ouija board, which has had quite a sordid past when one delves into the history of its creator and patent maker.

From personal experience, the Ouija board did in fact deliver answers that were not otherwise known to a gathered group. During my 17th year, an accident in gym class pretty much left me homebound for a number of weeks. During that time, friends would come over to my very known “haunted house” where the relatives would delight us in the past history of the house and all the odd occurrences that took place over the many years.

Having always had a fondness for the occult, it was not so unusual to have a Ouija board, and one particular evening, the gathered friends thought that in the midst of the raging thunderstorm outside, that “playing” with it might be fun.

The initial response we got was a lot of jumbled letters which made no sense. As often is the case, each party claimed the other was pushing the planchette across the board. Undaunted, we continued, and finally received some information about Henry and Maria. It seems that according to our unseen informant, Maria was in fact murdered, along with her children, by her husband Henry while in the basement of this antiquated house which dates back to over 200 years.

Having had a room in the basement at one time, it is clearly evident to all who enter it, that there is a strange feeling one gets of being watched. We have always felt it but never could put our fingers on it, and simply chalked it up to the dank, dark basement creating such odd musings.

As fantastical as Henry and Maria may seem as a part of childhood horror fantasy, it was only many years later when my sister in law was teaching piano lessons to a student who also happened to be a rather good psychic. Upon entering the house, this young lady, whom none of us knew, immediately felt odd vibrations in the house and asked if she could go to the basement.

Upon entering the basement, she let out a scream and informed my sister in law that a murder had taken place there some years back and that the man who did the crime was standing near the oil burner, the EXACT spot where everyone always felt like they were being watched.

In hindsight, none of us thought to investigate that story when it came from the board, so instead we pushed onward for a more concrete “spirit entity.” Oddly, an author Irvin Cobb came through, one none of us had ever heard of prior to this. According to the board, he was around as a guardian for my sister.

At the time, my sister was dating a young man who seemed completely enamored by her, so much so that marriage seemed imminent. However, the board/Irvin kept warning my sister that this man was not true to her and would in fact marry another. He also warned that she would receive the message in an unusual way that was close to a cruel breakup. Many months later, a limousine pulled up to our house and a young man dressed in a tuxedo rang our bell. It seems that this man was the best man for a wedding that was to take place in a few hours. He was sent to deliver a written message to my sister that her beloved was in fact getting married to another and he begged her forgiveness.

While also at the board, my sister was curious what happened to her diamond ring that was shaped as her initial. Irvin clearly stated, “go to your room.” My sister proceeded to climb the steps, went to her room and came back. She shouted at the board, as though it was a living person, that she saw nothing. Ironically, the board emphatically seemed to shout back, “ GO TO YOUR ROOM NOW.” She went to her room once again, muttering all the while as she climbed the stairs about all this being “bullshit.” However, curiosity and a hopeful belief in the afterlife moved her forward to seek out some answers. She went into her room, turned on her overhead light, and suddenly felt something fall from the ceiling, onto her foot. She let out with a scream and came running down the stairs with the ring in her hand, pale as could be, but nonetheless happy that her ring had been found after being gone for many months.

The fascination with this board went on for weeks, with many of the accumulated friends wanting answers to many queries. Most of them were of a personal nature, and in fact much of what was conveyed did in fact come to pass as time wore on.

The oddest thing that was stated without any explanation was the statements, “the noise of silence” and “the reddening of the blood.” None of us really understood what the meaning was beyond poetic license. However, one young lady who was present at the time, mentioned some years later that maybe the reddening of the blood was a clue to caesarian birth. She reminded me that every female that was in that room during this time, underwent caesarian birth due to complications with the birthing process via regular means.

Another young lady had gone to the public library to seek out works by Irvin Cobb, as by this time we were weeks into the consultation of this board, and most of us had our curiosity piqued. In the strangest turn of events, Cobb did in fact have an autobiography written entitled, “Exit Laughing,” which at the time was taken out. The real mystery was that this book, according to the librarian, had not been taken out for more than 3 decades! My friend put it on reserve, and when it came in poured over its pages in anticipation that some information could be gleaned from it. The most startling discovery was at the end of the book, where Mr. Cobb states that he doesn’t believe in endings or goodbyes and simply closed with, “until we meet again.”

Having grown up in a haunted house, the mysterious world of the unknown was never troublesome to us. It was a natural order of things, but also made us much more wary for charlatanism, simply because we had all had first hand encounters. The fact that some information came through from some unknown author that none of us had ever read or heard about made us all quite skeptical. However, in light of the fact that many questions of future issues which have since come to pass took place, one can only query if we tapped into a spirit realm or our own developing yet somewhat latent psychic abilities.

During this period of Ouija usage, the young lady who took out Cobb’s autobiography also took many detailed notes of what transpired. This was for future reference simply because the information and answers to questions at the time simply couldn’t have been known beforehand. She took these notes and locked them in a metal box that she kept under her bed.

Some years afterwards, when questions arose surrounding some of the answers we were given, she went to the box for the records only to find them missing. The box had not been moved and was covered in layers of dust that periodically assault items stored under the bed over time.

Despite the dire warnings of evil spirits and Ouija boards, we never experienced anything of such a nature. That isn’t to say that some unknown force or entity could come through with some, however, this wasn’t our experience.

In the final analysis, the debate will continue to rage on if the Ouija board actually helps one to commune with the departed, is a figment of one’s overactive imagination or is a channel to releasing latent psychic ability. In any case, there are many of us who have witnessed firsthand events and answers that simply couldn’t have been attributed by the accepted paradigms of information gathering.

For a more detailed history behind the Ouija board, there is a fascinating Ouija Board museum site located at www.museumoftalkingboards.com. It’s a highly interesting read about the history of this item, demonstrating that it’s past is shrouded in as much mystery as the answers it portends.