Should You Use a Ouija Board?

Photo by Colton Sturgeon on Unsplash

Someone asked me whether using a Ouija board to connect with a loved one in spirit was a wise thing to do. I want to share my own knowledge, thoughts and experiences with Ouija boards, along with a little bit of their history and why I think people can run into problems when using them.

The Ouija board was originally regarded as a game, but during the height of the spiritualist movement when many people were using all sorts of tools to communicate with their departed loved ones, American spiritualist Pearl Lenore Curran popularized it as another tool for spirit communication after she began speaking with a spirit through the board. It was then later sold commercially as a Talking Board. Over time, I think the Ouija board developed a much darker reputation with horror movies and ghost stories all playing a part in turning it into something most people now associate with something scary, dark or evil.

I don’t believe the Ouija board itself was created to be evil, but that doesn’t automatically make it safe either. One problem when using a board is that you have no control over who answers. When I give a mediumship session, I’m not just opening communication and hoping for the best. I’ve spent years developing my abilities and learning the difference between the energy of a loved one in spirit and something that doesn’t feel right. I also know how to open a session properly, I know how to work within that space with departed loved ones, and I know how to close the space afterwards, a Ouija board doesn’t offer any of that, it’s simply opening the door and hoping the spirit you wanted is the one who walks through.

My Own Experiences

A long time ago, I spent a lot of time using a Ouija board. At first I was fascinated by the board, I would ask it questions and whatever was communicating through the board would give me instant and correct answers. But it didn’t take long before something wasn’t right, the spirit communicating through the board began to communicate inconsistent information more often, it would make up stories about people I knew, often give me false information and at times pretend to know things it clearly didn’t. Looking back at these experiences now, I think the inconsistent responses were designed to keep me asking more questions.

Just because you receive an answer through the board, it doesn’t mean it’s who it says it is. I think that’s one of the dangers with Ouija boards, people assume they’re talking to the loved one in spirit they asked for, but there’s often no reliable way of knowing who’s actually responding.

Why Fear Makes Everything Worse

There’s another reason I don’t recommend Ouija boards, most people already expect something frightening to happen before they even touch one. Years of horror movies and scary stories have created this idea that using a Ouija board means inviting something evil into your home. Whether people realize it or not, they often approach the board already feeling nervous, anxious or excited by the possibility that something scary might happen. In my experience, fear plays a huge role in spirit communication, fear can change your energy.

I’ve always believed that the energy you bring into spirit communication matters, when people are frightened, chaotic or treating it like entertainment, they’re not creating the kind of calm, grounded environment I believe is important when working with spirit. Unfortunately that’s exactly how many Ouija boards are used, people bring them out at parties, late at night, even dare each other to use it and hope something creepy happens, those aren’t the conditions I’d ever recommend for attempting spirit communication.

What About Intention?

Some people believe your intention is everything, they believe if you approach a Ouija board with love, respect and genuine intentions, that’s the kind of experience you’ll have, and I do think intention matters. But I don’t think intention solves every problem when it comes to the Ouija board. Even if you have the best intentions in the world, you still have no way of verifying who’s communicating with you through the board. Just like some people, there are also spirits who may not introduce themselves honestly or be who they claim to be, that’s where experience and discernment become important.

If you’re curious about spirit communication or want to connect to a loved one in spirit, I don’t believe a Ouija board is the safest or most reliable way to communicate with spirit, there are better ways to open that door. You can develop your own intuition, meditate, ask your departed loved ones to communicate with you through signs, and learn more about spirit communication in a safe and grounded way.