On more than one occasion recently, the topic of fear in areas of the paranormal or spirit communication, such as the Ouija board, has crossed my path. So it has been on my mind lately. Below is a somewhat unstructured blabmentary on this topic.
It all began with a reader who commented on one of my Ouija posts. Most of the people who caution me about the use of the Ouija board refer back to their own personal negative experiences. Most of these experiences involve either sleepovers, dares, parties, or other situations where there probably isn't much planning, focus, or reverence involved. In most of these situations where people are gathered and dabbling for fun, there's not a lot of seriousness or trust involved, and with so many hands on the planchette, I'm likely to be skeptical of any paranormal event or communication that you tell me about. Sometimes people will use the term “dabbling” with me, or warn me of evil, as if I'd never ever thought about the possibility or read a book on the topic. It's a bit insulting to me when people compare my very positive and structured experiments, based on reading and research, with a drunken party or a sleepover from when they were twelve.
That's okay though. People only have their own experiences to draw from, and we're all different. In fairness, this particular comment was left on a post from a year and a half ago, a time where I was only starting to read about the Ouija, and I'd conducted no formal sessions yet. It was a respectful comment and was intended to be a warning, or perhaps encouragement to use caution. As I've mentioned before, in my opinion, all tools of spirit communication fall in the same boat. Having to fear a Ouija board because it has a sort of magical power to bring in evil spirits, yet thinking a digital audio recorder is fine, makes no sense to me. And I've also publicly mentioned how I don't hold much belief in demonic or evil entities, demons, etc. Negative or nasty spirits who were negative or nasty humans, sure. Bad energy? Of course. But the concept of the devil is something that makes me chuckle when it pops up in a serious discussion. Oh I know, so many of you say “In order to have good, you must have evil”, or “You can't have angels without the devil”, but I don't really get that opinion either.
My opinions of demonic or negative energies aside, I've always practiced spirit communication responsibly, often grounding and centering, praying or asking for protection, being in a light and positive mood, etc. I also should once again point out that I have never actually had any successful Ouija sessions where I witnessed any communication or paranormal activity.
Right now I'm in the middle of Karen A. Dahlman's book, The Spirits of Ouija, Four Decades of Communication. On this topic, we seem to share the same opinion, for the most part. She discusses how people fear the Ouija board out of ignorance. They believe what Hollywood or religious leaders want us to believe, and they don't want to take the time to learn about it. I'm really getting a lot out of it so far. I wanted to include a passage that pertains to fear, but I haven't taken the time to send her a message asking for permission. She really knows her Ouija! She has a great interview out there on one of Jim Harold's podcasts.
Another catalyst for this commentary was a portion of Theresa Caputo's book, There's More To Life Than This: Healing Messages, Remarkable Stories, and Insight About the Other Side from the Long Island Medium. My mom is a big fan of hers, and she sent the audio book to me as an early Christmas gift. At one point in the book, Theresa discussed how those who fear negative energy and experiences, breed negative energy and experiences. In other words, if you expect it you'll get it. She also talked about how many of the homes she's cleared of negative energy had a lot of religious items displayed around the house, as if it was a dare, or an obvious attempt at over protecting themselves. This has really gotten me thinking, and it has sparked a few discussions among friends recently. I suppose it was kind of like an Oprah “aha moment” for me.
Am I still talking? Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!
You might also like:
Thanksgiving Ouija Session 2013 (Big Séance)
EVP/Ouija/Spirit Box Session: “Ouija… Board” (Big Séance)
A Very Ouija Thanksgiving (2012) (Big Séance)
Ouija Gone Wild (Big Séance)
The Paranormal Podcast… To Ouija or not to Ouija? (Big Séance)