Origins of the Ouija Board

A childhood wouldn't be complete without at least one encounter with a Ouija Board. Our skepticism for it makes any messages from supposed spirits seem laughable, after all, how can a commercial board game be a portal to another dimension? Originally referred to as a talking board, the first example is dated to 540 B.C. and it was far removed from the entertaining game it is today.

Historical accounts from 540 B.C tell of Greek philosopher Pythagoras conducting séances with his sect at special table on wheels, that would move towards signs and provide messages from another world. This is the first known example of something resembling a Oujia Board. Later, in the 1800s the use of planchettes became widespread in the United states with the Modern Spiritual Movement. A planchette is small wooden table with castors that can be moved around while in contact with the participants hands or fingers to point at letters and messages. Originally, the planchette sat directly on the floor, and at times was affixed with a pencil so it could actually write out messages.

Later in the century planchettes would be commonly be used as a novelty. Businessmen Elijah Bond and Charles Kennard saw an opportunity received a patent for the planchette on February 10th, 1891. They included a miniature planchette in a box with a piece of cardboard inscribed with the letters of the alphabet, along with "yes" and "no," and marketed it as a talking board. A man by the name William Fuld joined Kennard Novelty Company as a painter and quickly grew fond of the board. He eventually took over the talking board production and re-marketed under the name we know today, "Ouija Board," in 1901.

The origins of the name were never clear. Some claim that it came to Kennard during a séance using one of his talking boards, which was later passed on to Fuld. Others claim it was inspired by the Moroccan city of Oujda, but the connection to the city is unknown. The most believable explanation is that it is a combination of the French and German words for "yes", "oui" and "ja", respectably.

Fund applied for his own patents and later started Ouija Novelty Company, which produced Ouija Boards up to his death in 1927. His family continued producing the boards and eventually sold the company to Parker Brothers in 1966. The design remained unchanged until 1999 when it underwent some slight revisions.

Ouija Boards have been the source of both criticism and controversy. Fundamental Christians believe the board allows users to connect with demons, and they claim according to the Bible this makes the board a tool of the Devil. Harry Houdini wrote in 1924 that five people in California were driven insane by the board. Others claim its users started being harassed by demons, and eventually committed suicide. Most critics   simply claim that the whole idea of a Ouija Board is foolish.

How a Ouija Board works depends on your belief system. Scientifically, users subconsciously direct the planchette to the word they are thinking. Other users go along with it thinking that the pointer is moving on its own. The fact that the resulting word is different from what they consciously expected, makes it even more believable (to them). Sometimes its simply one user directing it to spell something that will get a rise out of other players, making it no more than a simple fraud.

Spiritualists believe that the board works as a medium to communicate the message, rather than the board having power itself. To debunk the Ouija Board researchers have blind folded the participants, stifling the results. Spiritualists argue that sprits use the participants eyes as their own, so by blindfolding the participants you are blindfolding the spirits.

We'll let you decide.

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