How the ouija board really moves

[Jazzy]

Ouija board cups and dowsing wands – just two examples of mystical items that seem to move of their own accord, when they are really being moved by the people holding them. The only mystery is not one of a connection to the spirit world, but of why we can make movements and yet not realise that we're making them.

The phenomenon is called the ideomotor effect and you can witness it yourself if you hang a small weight like a button or a ring from a string (ideally more than a foot long). Hold the end of the string with your arm out in front of you, so the weight hangs down freely. Try to hold your arm completely still. The weight will start to swing clockwise or anticlockwise in small circles. Do not start this motion yourself. Instead, just ask yourself a question – any question – and say that the weight will swing clockwise to answer "Yes" and anticlockwise for "No". Hold this thought in mind, and soon, even though you are trying not to make any motion, the weight will start to swing in answer to your question.

Magic? Only the ordinary everyday magic of consciousness. There's no supernatural force at work, just tiny movements you are making without realising. The string allows these movements to be exaggerated, the inertia of the weight allows them to be conserved and built on until they form a regular swinging motion. The effect is known as Chevreul's Pendulum, after the 19th Century French scientist who investigated it.

What is happening with Chevreul's Pendulum is that you are witnessing a movement (of the weight) without "owning" that movement as being caused by you. The same basic phenomenon underlies dowsing – where small movements of the hands cause the dowsing wand to swing wildly – or the Ouija board, where multiple people hold a cup and it seems to move of its own accord to answer questions by spelling out letters.

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Interesting article.

Have you ever used a Ouija board? If so, did you think there was a supernatural force at work?

 

[DrLeftover]

You're dealing with two different realities here.

The board you can buy today in a game store is exactly what is described above, and, essentially, a fraud. I won't say harmless, because if the intent of the users is 'of the right sort' it may do more than the 'game' was designed to do.


Original, one can say "Traditional" boards, are another matter all together and are a spiritualist device and are specifically designed to open a gateway into the underworld. THOSE, should not be "played with".

 

[Jazzy]

Original, one can say "Traditional" boards, are another matter all together and are a spiritualist device and are specifically designed to open a gateway into the underworld. THOSE, should not be "played with".

Is that a fact or a myth?

 

[DrLeftover]

A little of both.

The word “Fuji” means planchette writing, spirit writing or automatic writing. Fuji flourished during the Tang and Song Dynasties. Spirit writing using a pendulum has a long history in Chinese folk religion and was first recorded during the Liu Song Dynasty (960-1279). “Fuji” planchette writing became popular during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Fuji divination flourished during the Ming Dynasty and the Jiajaing Emperor built a special planchette alter in the Forbidden City. The practice of Fuji planchette writing was prohibited by the Qing Dynasty, but continued underground and is currently practiced in Daoist temples in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia, as well as folk shrines throughout China. When brought into Daoism, planchette writing influenced the composition of Daoism scriptures. The planchette and the pendulum are used interchangeably.

http://www.channeledreadings.com/history-of-the-talking-board-planchette-pendulum-ouija

 

[Jazzy]

Interesting and thank you for the link. To believe any of this, one would have to believe in psychic mediums. I do not. Do you?