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Mysterious board game incites controversy
by Rena Lidstone
Patented in 1892 by American entrepreneur William Fuld, the Ouija Talking Board did not gain
popularity until World War I. Yet, Ouija-like instruments have ancient origins and have been
rediscovered and reinvented in many different countries dating back to 550 B.C.
Talking boards have roots in ancient China, Greece, Rome and France; they were also used by North
American Indians to find missing people or lost articles, according to Stoker Hunt, author of "Ouija:
The Most Dangerous Game."
In 1966, Parker Brothers purchased the rights to the Ouija Talking Board and moved production from
Baltimore to Salem, Mass., a place best known for its Puritan witch trials. In its first full year of
production under the Parker Brothers name, the Ouija Talking Board outsold the top-selling board game
Monopoly.
"There are no regional differences in sales," said Mark Morris, public relations director for
Hasbro Games, parent company of Parker Brothers. Morris also confirmed there are no tremendous boost
in sales at Halloween. He was also reticent about the game's supposed supernatural power.
"Consumers will often ask if there is something to (the Ouija Board)," Morris said. "Our response
is that it is a fun game that can be played at anytime. It is light and amusing, interesting and fun."
Houston-area psychic Helen Schroeder strongly disagrees.
"The Ouija Board is dangerous," Schroeder said. "Entities can take over your body."
Schroeder threw her board away years ago, claiming the danger associated with the board was too great.
She also does not use the board in her sessions and would not likely honor any customer requests to
do so.
"People open themselves to good and bad forces, and there is no guarantee which will come through,"
she said. Schroeder claims to know a person who was taken
over by an evil spirit through a Ouija session.
"They began to say obscene things and were unable to do normal things like write a check," she said.
A psychic with the Lady Geneva Psychic Tea Room in Galveston, who preferred not to be identified,
said spirits converse through the board, and only people with spiritual powers or gifts should use it.
"The Ouija Board has its own spirit," she said. "It will work only if it wants to or likes the
person's presence or vibrations."
The psychic has used the Ouija Board once or twice and said it answered true questions and
predicted things that came true within six months to a year. Although she does not use the board in
her psychic readings, she said "using the board and communicating with spirits is very stressful and
takes lots of energy."
Some people speculate that the board works through a combination of body heat and movement. No
matter their operating theories, most people are intrigued with the slick oblong board containing
letters, words and symbols arranged in a half-moon shape.
"I get a kick out of the whole unknown thing, because no one knows for sure," said Michael
Ohnesorge, an undergraduate humanities major.
Although Ohnesorge has never used a Ouija Board, he is open and willing to play if the opportunity
presents itself.
"I see it as a game, but I would like it to be more than a game," he said. "I am real grounded and
believe in what I can see or touch."
Others object to the board for religious or spiritual reasons.
"I am against the Ouija Board because I am a Christian, and my foundation is laid on the laws of
Christ," said Mike Cervantes, undergraduate biology major.
Cervantes does not feel the board itself has powers, but that the person using the board is opening
himself or herself to an unknown realm. Although firmly against the Ouija Board game and what it
supposedly represents, he admitted to playing the game as a child.
"Nothing happened. It was a brief session and we got bored," he said.
So, is it just a game or is it a mysterious portal to the dark spiritual world?
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