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I just got a ouija board in the mail and have been thinking about effects to do with it.

Psychological forces would be nice, but I was thinking of progressing; the first couple hits would be amusing but later it would get downright disconcerting. Swami-ing some impressive hits after the specs come up with a word via the board occurred to me, but something bigger than a piece of card would be nice.

I would get out my Abbott, Robinson, and Tarbell books to do my homework, but I left them at home and I'm going to be in my dorm for a good three weeks, so any advice is appreciated.

This would be an ungimmicked board, I take it?

Yes, it will be a normal board. I am planning on freaking out a friend in my dorm building (using all available means-- I'm asking hall mates to handle most of the trickery), but separately I would like to see if I can develop a routine with the board. It might be a challenge to keep it from getting slow/dull, but working on it is half the fun.

Why not just use it as it was intended? Why fake/force anything? It will be far more disconcerting if both you and he know that it wasn't a set up. My opinion would be that turning a ouija board into a "routine" would take away the real magic.

Have a look at Corinda's mediumship step.

When I use a Ouija board, I use it to demonstrate telepathy rather than spirit contact.

Barry

themagicwand wrote:Why not just use it as it was intended? Why fake/force anything? It will be far more disconcerting if both you and he know that it wasn't a set up. My opinion would be that turning a ouija board into a "routine" would take away the real magic.

The problem is, a ouija board can't help laypeople actually divine a sealed, random word. They need some *cough* help *cough*.

I think I have a copy of Corinda's with me, actually. I will look it up. Thanks.

In none of my ouija experiences as a younger and more psychologically robust man was dullness or tedium ever a factor. Consider Paul's advice.

What I've always loved about the ouija is that right from my asking "In time-honoured tradition, is there anybody there? When you're ready, you can move to YES." I'm communicating with the sitters collective unconscious minds and asking them to move the glass (the italics). Once I realised that, I realised that I'm in command of the board. Phrase the things you say as very subtle suggestions and you'll be surprised what you can make the glass do.

There's a thing I'm thinking of incorporating into my séances under the RADAR. Essentially, and before anyone arrives I will have a word selected (perhaps at random, perhaps not) and placed in an envelope. No-one will know of its existence, though I may leave it with one of the sitters. If, perchance, the sitters spell this word out during the séance, then that's something to think about. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen.

This would be as much for my own amusement as anything else.

Also "finding the board" is just creepy as. End of.

Mr_Grue wrote:There's a thing I'm thinking of incorporating into my séances under the RADAR. Essentially, and before anyone arrives I will have a word selected (perhaps at random, perhaps not) and placed in an envelope. No-one will know of its existence, though I may leave it with one of the sitters. If, perchance, the sitters spell this word out during the séance, then that's something to think about. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen.

You could also cover more bases by using a pocket index.

Oh absolutely.

Ouija boards are the work of Evil.
Stay away from them for your own spiritual good.

I tend to use letter cards and a glass instead of a board now. But Paul is right, use it as he says.

At the risk of embarrassing Paul, I’ve seen him do the Ouija session with letter cards and a table a couple of times now and each time the results have been remarkable. Sometimes it takes a while to get things moving (pun intended) but not a worryingly long time. There were usually three different sets of people with their fingers on the glass to give everyone a chance to be involved and, although Paul was in the room and ready to deal with anything upsetting, he wasn’t part of the process – just an occasional voice in the background. I make no claims about how and why the results occurred and I’m still very much a sceptic but at no time was anything carried out which could be classed as dangerous, frightening or unseemly. As a somewhat neutral in terms of whether results are paranormal or not, it does seem to me that leaving the people to get on with it as unfettered and unguided as possible is the key to a successful and interesting event.

Mandrake wrote: Sometimes it takes a while to get things moving (pun intended) but not a worryingly long time.

"Don't worry; we've got all night..."