Grandpa's Spirit
or
Grandpa's Ouija

The power was out due to a summer storm. Mom had gone to the store to get ice. Both kids were playing with Grandpa's old Ouija board, mostly because they were bored.

They were asking YES/NO questions because the board mostly spelled jibberish.

The 12 year old was mostly just attempting to keep the 7 year old from doing something stupid that would make their Mom mad, because they would both catch hell for it. In particular, they were to stay out of the kitchen, not open the refrig or make a mess, and to not go near Mrs. Thomas's house. That's why they had the Ouija board. The 12 year old had explained how Grandpa had sometimes used this board with him when he was younger.

Even when they asked YES/NO questions, the Ouija board sometimes ignored the question and still spelled jibberish, but it mostly went to either YES or NO. Some of the answers were funny. Particularly the ones about Mrs. Thomas, who lived two houses down and was constantly yelling at people for parking their cars near her house--or walking on her section of the public sidewalk.

"Will we get to watch TV later today?" YES
"Will Mom and Dad take us to the movies Saturday night?" NO
"Will I get to play basketball tomorrow?" YES
"Is Mrs. Thomas a bad lady?" NO
"Is Mrs. Thomas a nice lady?" NO
"Is Mrs. Thomas a weird lady?" YES

There were lots of others, including, "Is Mom still at the store?"

The planchette had been sliding over to YES when it paused and started sliding back over the letters. It paused at D, then O, then G. Finally, it had spelled a real word: DOG.

When the 7 year old exclaimed "Dog!" the elderly family dog, who had been napping, looked up curiously. He was an old, black Labrador, now graying around the muzzle. They had inherited the dog with the house.

The planchette slid over the letters to O, then U, then T. The dog had again laid his head down. Then the planchette slid over the letters N,O, and W. The 7 year old exclaimed, "Dog out now?!" The dog opened its eyes.

The 12 year old said, "The dog doesn't need to go. Maybe it means something else." Both of them put their hands back on the planchette, and asked if it meant something else.

The planchette moved to NO. Then, it spelled O, U, and T. It circled indecisively then stopped at W, zipped up to A, over to L, and over to K. The seven year old said, "Out? Walk?" The dog looked up and thumped his tail.

Looking at the dog, the 12 year said, "Okay, we'll take the dog for a walk, but stay with me so Mom doesn't get mad. And we won't go past the Thomas house." They stuck a note on the front door:

WALKING
DOG

Then they took the dog for a long walk up the street, in the opposite direction from Mrs. Thomas's house, and around the corner. When they came back down the street, they saw a fire truck, and their Mom's car, outside their home. Their Mom hugged them both and told them, with tears in her eyes, how proud she was they remembered to leave a note. She hugged them both very tight and the dog too.

What had happened while they were gone is the power came back on. This sent a slight surge to the outlet in the TV room, where a large air conditioner was plugged in. The undersized, somewhat frayed extension cord connecting the unit to the outlet immediately overheated as the air conditioner's compressor started up. A curtain, made of a flammable sythetic material, was touching the cord, and began smoking. In seconds, it went from smoking to flame. A neighbor called 911 when the smoke billowed out of an open window.

The fire was already out, and didn't cause much more than a lot of smoke damage, but one of the firefighters said it was fortunate the boys had both been out walking the dog.

copyright May 2014 Myth Woodling

OCTOBER 2020 ADDITION TO THIS PAGE

Ouija Board Door Mat, ordered during 2020 pandemic
Magically arrived from SpiritHalloween(dot)com
on Saturday, October 31, 2020, Full Moon.

If you do not know what an Ouija board is, click on:
What is an Ouija Board? How does it work?

If you ever want to get rid of an Ouija board or other Talking board , just contact Robert Murch at either or both of these Facebook pages:
Robert Murch  public page - Facebook
Talking Board Historical Society – Facebook

If you are interested in reading more selected Ouija board tales, folklore, and facts, just click below:

Spirit Inspiration
Ouija Anecdote
Ouija Session
Baltimore Maryland Folklore & Facts About the Ouija Board
One Last Piece of Maryland Ouija Board Folklore and Fact: The Haunted Boy

Myth's folklore discussion of Grandpa's Spirit:

You are welcome to retell this story, Grandpa's Spirit, as a legend. I'm sure it's technically not an "urban legend," because that is a story which is retold as true event taking place in multiple locations. I do think it could be a legend connected to a certain event. Yet, if the tale is attached to any specific location, I don't know where that is.

If memory serves, I must have tumbled across the narative in the late 1980's someplace--probably written up in one of those many paranormal booklets of "true accounts" which I read for fun. Since the kids left without phoning their Mom on her cell phone, I'm guessing the story must orginate in the days before everyone had cell phones with them all the time. It does not matter, because I'm retelling the story as a legend, not a factual account.

There seems to be numerous cautionary tales about the dangers of Ouija boards. I decided to share one, Grandpa's Spirit, that wasn't intended to be a typical cautionary Ouija board story.

I admit a fondness for the Ouija board. As a kid, I was given one of those Parker Brothers Ouija Boards in the 1970's. I was tickled pink--as they used to say. Nothing bad ever happened to me for getting a Parker Brothers Ouija Board. I have fond memories of mucking around with the board and getting messages of badly spelled jibberish with different friends. I know I still have that old board somewhere in my basement or attic. Maybe it's a collector's item now. In all my years of owning it, I have experienced no malevolent ghosts, no demons, and no portals to the nether regions unknown. Frankly, I'm rather tired of the stupid stories about poor children and Ouija boards--the stupidest of which was that piece of crap fiction, The Exorcist.

I wish to share an apt comment about Ouija boards:

Seriously, there's nothing evil about a plastic-coated cardboard and plastic planchette. It's mass produced by Parker Brothers. It's not going to summon an evil demon to possess you, you're not going to lose your soul if you use it. --G. B., May 23, 2014

To that I will add--if you don't want to use an "Ouija board" or "spirit board"--DON'T USE IT. It is not particularly part of mainstream Wiccan practice. There are hundreds of divination items out there--should you desire such an item.

Frankly, if you're so scared of the spirits you call up with it, I have to question your capabilities as a magician of any sort, and the relationships you have with the spirits you serve or the deities you worship. --G. B., May 23, 2014

Someone complained to me, "We never hear about encounters with good, helpful spirits," and then grumbled about spooky campfire stories and scary urban legends as being the primary type of modern folklore in the USA.

That's not quite true, as I know the collection of modern folklore legends--also referred to as "urban legends" or "comtemporary legends"--likewise include tales of protective angels and helpful ghosts, though these tales are not often told around the campfire among youth. Protective angels and helpful ghosts are not "ookie-spooky" enough for scary campfire stories.

The above story is my retelling of an account which I read/heard, extracted from my imperfect memonry. I probably have gotten some details wrong. I remember that the Grandfather's spirit warned his two grandkids to get out of the house via Ouija board. Then, the house caught on fire after they went out. I have no idea how old the two kids were or even if they were boys or girls. I don't remember why they were home alone. They could have been "latchkey kids" as they called them in the 1980's. A latchkey kid might be expected to walk the family's dog as well as finish homework. I simply assigned them the ages 7 and 12 in order to retell the tale.

"Latchkey kids" was the media name for those kids in the 1980's and early 1990's who had no parental supervision in an empty house each weekday after school because their parents were still at work. An interesting side note about the state of Maryland's fire code law is that children younger than age 8 may not be left alone in a home or vehicle without the supervision of someone age 13 or older. However, Maryland state law does not define an age involving children playing or walking outside. (The safety concern behind this law was that children might be trapped inside an enclosed space during a fire. Nevertheless, it would be deemed both safe and legal for a 7 year old and a 12 year old to walk their leashed dog through the neighborhood or be playing together outside in a yard--without adult suervision.)

I did a quick web search, but did not find any online reference to this tale.

Spiritualist lore is full of stories about people being helped or warned by spirits/ghosts; angel lore is full of stories about folks being helped by angels. Some of the stories cross and hop from ghost lore to angel lore.

More Selected Tales of Ouija Boards

After much thought, I decided to include some more tales involving the Mystic Oracle.

Ouija Tale: Spirit Inspiration

This story is about someone getting helpful advice from an Ouija board.

Arthur Henry Ward (February 15, 1883 --June 1, 1959), was a prolific English novelist, who wrote under the pen name, "Sax Rohmer." He was interested in the occult and claimed membership in one of the factions of the qabbalistic Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. There is a story that he credited an Ouija board session with jump starting his writing career. He asked the board about how he could best make a living and the board replied: "C-H-I-N-A-M-A-N".

To be honest, I have no idea if this story about what a Spirit board spelled out is true or not. Yet, it is true that Sax Rohmer did have a long and profitable career as an author, which included his famous series of novels about a master criminal known as the insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu. Source: Tales from the Talking Board.

Ouija Tale: Ouija Anecdote

Noted author Raymond Buckland in Buckland's Book of Spirit Communications, 2004 (pp 73-75), provided an anecdote (based on an actual event). Mary Wilson invited Jim Waite for a seance at her home.

When they sat down at a homemade "Talking board," or "Spirit board," Mary explained that there would only be one individual voicing questions at the seance. This evening she would act as the spokesperson. Jim had never attended a seance before, and while he had an open mind on the subject of life after death, he had some definite reservations about believing in the possibility of "spirit contact."

With their fingers resting lightly on a wooden planchette, Mary asked, "Is there a spirit present?"

Jim felt the planchette move and slide over to YES. Jim believed that Mary must have been pushing the planchette. Mary continued asking questions:

"Do you have a message for any person here?"
YES
"Who?"
J-I-M
"What is your message?"
L-O-O-K-O-N-E-M-O-R-E-T-I-M-E-B-U-T-C-H

Jim was surprised. "Butch" was a nickname for his late uncle. Jim had indeed been looking for something in his uncle's effects. He was searching for an old book which had sentimental value, though no real value as a collector item. His uncle had promised the book to him sometime earlier. However, it was possible that the book was now gone, because at some point it could have been lost or damaged.

Mary Wilson did not know Jim's late uncle, the nickname "Butch," nor that Jim had just about given up looking for this particular book in his uncle's property as he was settling the estate. Nor did Mary know Jim would soon have to arrange for disposal of any remaining personal effects.

Prompted by the board, Jim decided to try one more search. Buckland related that Jim did indeed find the missing book in that final search.

Buckland also provided another typical example on pp. 78-79.

"Is there anybody there?"
YES
"Are you willing to speak with us?"
YES
"Do you have a message for anybody?"
YES
"Would you please give the name or initials?"
J-B-D
"Is the message for John?"
YES
"Please spell out the message."
W-A-I-T-F-O-R-T-H-E-S-M-U-M-R-F
"Would you please repeat the last word?"
S-U-M-M-E-R
"Thank you. Carry on with the message."
N-O-W-I-S-T-O-S-O-0-N
"Do you mean, 'Now is too soon?'"
YES
"Is there more to the message?"
NO

Buckland explained that the following letters can get muddled with each other: E & F, H K & N, D P R & B, as well as C G & Q. He also wrote that sometimes the planchette may indicate a letter next to the one it stopped on. It could also indicate either of two letters if it stopped in between them.

There is a whole chapter on "Talking Boards" in Buckland's Book of Spirit Communication as well as much other useful information. I encourage folks to read this book.

Information from this chapter was used with Raymond Buckland's permission.

Another Ouija Tale

I decided I should include at least one story that was a cautionary tale, but no ancient Assyrian Type VII demons or other goofy "freaking" crap.

Ouija Tale: The Ouija Session

This happened one eveing when the four of us decided to have a Ouija session. As commonly done, only two of us perched the board on our knees and set our fingers lightly on the planchette. Mind you, we wanted to have a good time, but we have some rules we follow.

We don't drink beer, or imbibe other "spirits" since we're already contacting spirits. It's tea, coffee, or water--and the occasional diet coke. We take turns asking questions, so we don't talk over each other, because that just gets too confusing. We also have three or four people at any session. That way there is always at least one extra person to record the questions and answers. If you have four people, it is easier to trade off who is sitting with the board.

During the sessions, we concentrate upon the questions, and do not ask any inappropriate or ridiculous questions like, "When will my goldfish die?" or "Can I levitate out the window and up to the moon?" The two people whose hands are on the planchette look directly into each other's eyes and not down towards the board.

At the beginning of this session, we asked, "Is a friendly spirit here who wants to communicate?" The heart-shaped planchette moved and then slid over, stopping over the word "YES." We then asked some YES/NO questions, including: "Do you have a specific message to relay to anyone here?" "NO." "Were you once alive?" "YES." "Are you an earthbound ghost?" "NO." "Why are you here?" The planchette spelled, "U-T-A-L-K." "Do you mean you like talking with the living?" "YES." We asked some other YES/NO questions, and then asked, "When did you die?" The planchette moved down to the numbers: "1-9-4-8."

Our next question was, "What year were you born?" The planchette rolled across the numbers, "1-9-5-5." We looked at each other, confused, and asked, "You mean you died BEFORE you were born?" The planchette circled once and moved up to the letters "D-O-D." Then it moved down to the numbers "8-4" and then then spelled out, "O-P-S." My partner said, "That doesn't make any sense." The planchette then moved directly down to the word "GOOD BYE" printed at the bottom. There it stopped. We decided to call it quits for the night, effectively ending our session.

More About This Tale: An Ouija Session

This story is my own retelling. The tale is intended to illustrate that the famous "Talking board" does not always "talk" sense. If your own common sense detects something nonsensical, remain skeptical about the accuracy of its information.

Why this happens is open to interpretation.

Some folks who use spirit boards claim that many spirits have atrocious grammar and spelling. For example:

"L-O-K-N-B-O-K" (Look in book.)
"T-K-G-D-C-A-R-E-P-L-L" (Take good care people.)
"I-I-Z-W-I-D-U" (I is with you.)
"T-H-A-R-F-R-E-N-D" (They are friends.)

This story portrays a spirit as possibly being really bad with numbers too, but it's not clear.

One interpretation is that the spirits can be intentional pranksters. Another interpretation is that they can unintentionally muddle the message.

The moral of this tale is, whatever spirits you contact, do not assume they have provided accurate information or that the message was fully understood. Possibly, this spirit reversed two digits in the date of death, 1948 and 1984, and therefore shuffled off this mortal coil at age 29.

Nevertheless, if "J-O-N-K-I-N-G" spells out "P-O-T-O-G-O-L-D-B-U-R-I-E-D" in "N-X-T-Y-A-R-D", I would advise not bothering with a shovel.

There's another version of this folktale which can be found on the Museum of Talking Boards webpage under Ouija-stitions. Apparently this tale goes back to the mid 1980's.

Baltimore, Maryland, Folklore and Facts About the Ouija Board

It is often said that the Ouija Board was "invented" in Baltimore in 1890. This bit of Baltimore folklore is only partially true. The Kennard Novelty company was founded in the Fall of 1890. Four months later, the company was issued a patent on an amusement item, a Talking board which would later be known as the famous "Ouija board."

For 86 years, the board under the name of "Ouija" was exclusively manufactured in Baltimore, Maryland.

"Ouija," in fact, is a trade name which has been in continuous use since its creation. Similar types of boards were known as "Talking boards," "Spirit boards," "Witch boards," "Mystic boards," etc. They came into existence due to the birth of the USA religious and social movement of Spiritualism, which started in 1847 in Hydesvill, New York.

The Fox sisters, Kate, Maggie, and Leah experienced a series of knockings or rappings, apparently created by something unseen at their home. When questioned about the ages of the Fox sisters, the correct number of years was be rapped out by the noisy ghost. Over the next few weeks, a code was developed, where raps could signify yes or no in response to questions, or indicate a letter of the alphabet. Words and full messages, via solely rappings, was a tedious undertaking.

During an investigation, Kate Fox was described as patiently repeating the letters of the alphabet while the spirits would rap in response, indicating which letters spelled out a message from the beyond.

As interest in this otherworldly spiritual phenomenon increased, so other folk attempted to communicate with the spirit world. Numerous people began having home sittings or seances. Likewise, professional mediums began popping up all over the place.

Other forms of communication, besides rap once for yes and two for no, were also implemented--like table tipping, automatic writing...and eventually homemade "Talking boards" aka "Spirit boards."

According to Ouija expert and historian Robert Murch, an article in the New York Daily Tribune on May 28, 1886 documented that a new "Talking board" craze had swept through Ohio some four years before the Ouija board's commercial launch in Baltimore, Maryland.

Murch also explained that the first to denounce the Ouija boards were some professional mediums, who deemed this tool as perhaps too hazardous to be handled by amateurs. A powerful, gifted, professional medium would be much more capable of handling communications with spirits.

Why would the spiritualist community be upset? Because for a dollar, you could buy a board and have a seance anytime you wanted, in the privacy of your own home. Up until that point, you were paying mediums. So whose business was being hurt? The mediums! That’s when you started hearing things like, "Ouija boards are dangerous; you are opening doors you can’t close. You need someone with experience like me to guide you through this unseen land." Don’t buy that board. Buy me!

That kind of talk has lived on, and we’re hearing those same things today. But the sense of danger; of the unknown; the possibility that you might be able to part the veil is what causes people to still play. Loss and death and how we deal with those things has changed over the years, but the fact that it happens hasn’t changed. What keeps us the same is that we all die.

--Anthony C. Hayes, "Ouijacon: An interview with Ouija board expert Robert Murch," Baltimore Post Examiner, Friday, April 17, 2015, accessed 4/17/15

Folklore has credited William Fuld with inventing the name, "Ouija." According to common belief, the name "Ouija" is from French "oui" (yes) and German "ja" (yes), which would make the Ouija the YES-YES board. Fuld claimed the name was the Egyptian word for "good luck" and he received it--with other instructions--from the Ouija board. Later, he clarified that he did not habitually consult the board.

I'm not a Spiritualist! I'm a Presbyterian. I built this factory on Ouija's advice, but I haven't consulted the board since. Things have been moving along so well I didn't want to start anything." -- William Fuld

The first OUIJACON (April 23-25, 2015) at the Baltimore Harbor Hotel at 101 W. Fayette Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201 marked the Ouija board's 125th anniversary.

One Last Piece of Maryland Ouija Board Folklore and Fact: The Haunted Boy

Mark Opsasnick, The Haunted Boy: the Facts Behind the Story that Inspired the Exorcist. Strange Magazine 20 (available from Strange Bookshop).

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Also check out this book:
Mark Opsasnick, The Real Story Behind the Exorcist: A Study of the Haunted Boy and Other True-Life Horror Legends from Around the Nation's Capital, 2006

What is an Ouija board? How does it work?

An "Ouija board" is a board with alphabet letters, numbers, and the words "YES," "NO," "MAYBE," and "GOOD-BYE" printed on it. A 3-legged device with a hole in the middle serving as a pointer--called a planchette--is used on the board. Two people lightly put their fingers on the planchette and ask questions that have YES or NO answers, or answers that can be answered with numbers or words spelled out by letters. The fingers have to remain resting lightly or the planchette will not move. If the hands are pressing down too hard--it won't move. If the hands are off--it won't move.

The planchette is designed to glide easily across the board. Often the two individuals are not trying to move it and yet they feel it shift and move.

In this case, skeptics will explain that the movement of the planchette is not from influence by spirits but by unconscious motor behavior (subtle unconscious muscle movements) by those touching the pointer. It is called the "ideomotor effect." According to the entry on the ideomotor effect, The Skeptic's Dictionary:

The term "ideomotor action" was coined by William B. Carpenter in 1852 in his explanation for the movements of rods and pendulums by dowsers, and some table turning or lifting by spirit mediums (the ones that weren't accomplished by cheating). Carpenter argued that muscular movement can be initiated by the mind independently of volition or emotions. We may not be aware of it, but suggestions can be made to the mind by others or by observations. Those suggestions can influence the mind and affect motor behavior. Accessed 5/16/14.

Of course, I have a sightly different explanation. The message is not from some spirits, it is from one's higher self which is an extension of one's self that can access the Akashic Records. The higher self is part of an individual's metaphysical identity, hence an individual's subtle unconscious muscle movements might reflect a correct answer.

Robert Murch, a Ouija expert, historian, and collector, made this comment in an interview with Anthony C. Hayes:

There are three ways that people hold that the movement on the board actually happens. Scientists posit it is the ideomotor response. That’s basically the marrying of the small muscles in your hand that don’t want to stay still, and your subconscious which when it sees things, sees everything. Your conscious mind can’t function that way, so it absorbs things that are unimportant but it maintains them in your head. When you use a Ouija board, scientists say those small movements in your hand become fluid because you want the board to work. You feel like it’s moving beyond your control, when it’s actually you that is moving it.

Then there are psychics who believe that what’s happening when you sit at a board with other players is that you’re making some type of telepathy; there is some type of psychic connection going on.

And then there is a huge segment of the population who believe that the talking board parts the veil to the other side, and the messages you get are from those who have passed on. That’s where they come from, and make no mistake about it, even though the talking board was sold as a toy, it came out of the spiritualist movement. It's intention was, originally, to talk with the spirits.

--Anthony C. Hayes, "Ouijacon: An interview with Ouija board expert Robert Murch," Baltimore Post Examiner, Friday, April 17, 2015, accessed 4/17/15

For more information on practically everything Ouija, check out the Museum of Talking Boards website.

Discussion and notes copyright September 2014 Myth Woodling, updated April 2015.

Update May 2015:

I had the pleasure of attending the first Ouijacon, which ran April 24 – 26, 2015 in Baltimore, MD. Below are external links to information and news stories about this historic Baltimore event.

Chris Kaltenbach, “Ouijacon celebrates 125 years of Ouija, brings it home to Baltimore,”, The Baltimore Sun, Thursday, April 23, 2015.

Ron Cassie, Not Dead Yet, After 125 years, the Ouija board’s Baltimore origin story has been unraveled. Research shows it works, too. (Kind of.), Baltimore Magazine April 2015.

Robert Murch, City of Baltimore to Recognize Ouija Board’s 125th Birthday at OUIJACON Event April 24th; Iconic Ouija Board will celebrate its birthday in the city of its founding during OUIJACON, April 23-25, Monday, April 13, 2015.

Directions Printed on the Back of the Ouija Board in 1902 by William Fuld

The Rules of Ouija

Ouija Frequently Asked Questions
RAQ (Rarely Asked Questions)
Folktales
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