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Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fkom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or othewise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. BELIEF AND CUSTOM SURROUNDING THE OUIJA BOARD Jean M. Myrick A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Folklore Mernorial University of Newfoundland December, 1999 St. John's Newfoundland Abstract This thesis presents an analysis of the Ouija board from a point of view that has not been published by any other folklorist. to date. That is. it looks at the actual beliefs that people have about the Ouija board phenomenon and the rationale by which they maintain this belief. Most scholars in the past have studied the Ouija board in ternis of its "use" and in doinp so. have focused on te ing to convince believers that what they believe is false. It is not the intention oi'this thcsis to show who is right or wrong. but simply to report the beliefs. the rationale behind the beliefs. and the consequential customs that surround the Ouija board phenomenon. Thc nature of the Ouija board phenomenon is directly tied to the ivqin which people helirve. What a penon believes or does not believe is iargely dcpcndcnt upon prcviously established belief systems. A pcrson who has no logical basis to believe in life atier death. may not believe that spirit communication is possible. On the other hand. those rvho believe that survival is possible aHer death do have a logical standpoint by which they cmconnect a new bel id-such as the powers of the Ouija board. Anyone studyinp supernatural beliefs is well aware. however. that the opinions of our informants are not so black and white. If anything. when it cornes to the Ouija board a lot of people simply cannot conclude. detinitively. what they believe. At the time of an experience with a board they may have had absolute belirf but in retrospect. begin to doubt and question that belief. As a folkloristic stud~.thrrefore. this thesis utilizes the concepts of traditions of belief and traditions of disbelief in order to show how adherents of both traditions logically rsplain their opinions. Acknowledgments It has been a long and seemingly never-ending journey- a voyage that 1 more than once thought to tum back from. It was with the suppon ofmy supervisor. Dr. Diane Goldstcin. that i continued on. came to believe that I could succeed and began to see an end to this particular academic quest. Diane. I sincerely thank you for your patience. undcrstandiny and willingness to --go to bat" for me. :\ great dral ol'appreciation also prsout to other mrmbers of the Mernorial Lrniwrsit~Folklore Depariment. First and foremost 1 would like to thank Dr. Paul Smith hr Iiis encouragement ovrr the years and his continuous ability to supply al! students with photocopicd information pertaining to their work. Paul. pureally are the photocopier God. Spccial thanks. also. to Dr. Martin Lovelace who has always shown an interest in n hiit I was doing: Dr. Philip Hiscock for helping with photognphs and other archival matcriiils: Dr. Barbara Rieti for loaning me her Ouija boards: and. not to be forgotten. Karcn and Sharon. for your willingness to help me in any way you could. As well I trould likr to thank the School of Graduate Studies for allowing me the extra time to complete rny thesis. Recognition must also be paid to rny informants who. due to the decision io kerp their real names concealed. cannot be individually thanked. You know who you are and I want to thank you for your time and the opportunity to speak to you about such a delicate and potrntiallp emotional subject. More than anything 1 would like to thank those who are closest to me: my rnother. Regina for hrr rolr in uqing me to continue with my education: my sister. Michelle. for listrning to me. throughout the years. whenever my academic goals wavered: and my boyti-irnd. Gary. who has had to cope with my "insane" lifestyle for this past Far. To m- father. Michad. my brother. George. and my sister. YvoM~-~~ou~~~sand mernories of )-ou art, Forever rtniwincd within the pages of this thesis. I know your spirits were. and aluays will be. watching over me ... Contents Abstract Ac know ledgments List of Figures Preface 1 Introduction and Methodology 1 .1 Introduction I .? Methodology 1 2.1 The Informants 1 2.2 Overview of Chapters 2 The History of the Ouija Board 2.1 "Officiai" History of the Ouija Board iv 2.1. I What Does Ouija Mean and Early Versions 26 2. I .I The Development of Spiritualism and Its Connection To the Ouija Board 28 2.1.3 The Evolution of the Ouija Board: Tlanchette" to Parker Brothers 36 1.7 Folk History of the Ouija Board 43 3.2.1 Questioning Folk Mistory 48 3 "Officiai" and Popular Beliefs About the Ouija Board 3.1 Investigating the Ouija Board Phenomenon 3.1.1 Science and Psycholog 3.1 2 Parapsychology 3 2 Re1 igion and the Ouija Board 3.2.1 Christianity 3.2.2 Judasim 3.2.3 Wicca 3 -2.4 Spiritualism 3.3 Social Science and the Ouija Board 3.4 Other Opinions 3 A. 1 Philosophy 3 -4.2 Harry Houdini 3.5 Folklore and the Ouija Board 1.1 The Narratives 4.2 Structure of the Ouija Board Session . The Opening 4.2.1 Characterizing the Spirit 4.2.5 Goodbye 4.3 Analyzing the Narratives 4.3 The Ouija Board Rules: The Do's and Don'ts 4.3.2 Descriptions of Different Types of Ouija Boards and/or Beiiefs Surrounding Them 134 3.3 Defining the Spirits of the Ouija Board ador Where they Reside 141 4.3.4 Dangers Associated with the Ouija Board -1.3.5 The Issue of Control -1.3.6 Mediumship 4.3.7 Religious Influences 4.3-8 Group LoyaltyiDynamics 4.3.9 Other Encounters with the Supernatural 43-10General Overall Belie f or Feeling About the Ouija Board 4.3. l 1 Beliefs About: Life ARer Death: Angels. Ghosts. and Spirits: God and the Devil-Heaven and Hel1 43.17 No More Ouija Board Sessions-Doing it Again 4.4 Summary 5 Conclusion 5.1 A Closer Look at Research Obstacles 5.1.1 Beliefs are Disappearing 5.1 2 Belie fs are False 5.1.3 Lack of Folklore Scholarship vii 5.2 Folklorists and the Ouija Board 5 3.1 Understanding an Informant's Rationale from Mis or Her Narratives Bibliography viii List of Figures Figure 4.1- Large version of the Parker Brothers' Ouija board Figure 4.2- Small version of Parker Brothers' Ouija board with pointer Figure 4.3 -An example oîà "homemade" Ouija board Preface My Ouiia Board Story Even though 1 had always had an interest in the supemaiural. I never encountered the Ouija board when I was a young girl growing up. The closest I sver came to it was in an adolescent fictional novel entitled The Game'. This book tells the story of how an injured teen starts using a Ouija board as a past- timr. At tirst she sees it as only a game and plays by herself but it does not take long before a demon possesses her body and mind. Temble. frightening thinp start happening and it is left up to the girl's sister and her friends to help Free her of the cvil spirit. This was an interesting book that fed into my growing curiosity about spirits. ghosts and goblins. Ihad al1 but forgonen about this book until years later when 1 rediscovered it in an old storage box. The seeds of my current interest in the Ouija board cm be traced back to when 1 was about 18 years old and a new student at Mernorial University of Newfoundland (hereafter. MüN). It was here that I met new fnends and heard their stones of the Ouija board. None of them looked upon it as a game. Through their own expenences they concluded that the Ouija board was evil. Their tales of Les Logan. The Game (Toronto:Bantam Books. 1983). cats tlying through the air. of secrets coming out. of people becoming upset or w-possessed"gave me the chiils and that was enough to convince me that this garne was evil. I did not have to try it for myself. I beiieved that it was a tool of the devil. Several years later. my sister and a different goup of fiirnds started playing around with the Ouija board. My sister tried. several times. to convince me to use the board with her.