Of all the things on the path of magick, this is one of my pet peeves. When it comes to spiritual, occult, and magick topics, people tend to lose perspective and common sense about spirit boards. I am an occult practitioner, a witch, a magick user. I choose the path of knowledge over paranoia. There are no necromancers at the toy company enchanting the Ouija boards with chthonic powers before they get shipped out to local stores.
An Ouija board is just a tool, it only carries the properties its was created with. In this case, the properties of particleboard, paper, ink, sealant, and plastic. This is especially the case with modern Ouija boards, which may or may not have been touched by human hands during their creation. The magick or connection comes from you and your intent. If you use the Ouija board because you think you can contact demons, then guess what… you can contact demons with it. If you use the Ouija board only for higher purposes, then that is what it will be used for.
I don’t understand why it so hard for humans to believe that their own power is greater than that of a wooden object. Rumi once wrote, “Your body is woven from the light of Heaven. Are you aware that its purity and swiftness is the envy of Angels and it’s courage keeps even the devils away?” We can choose to be empowered, or we can wallow in helplessness and superstition. Magick and spiritual abilities are all about intent, intent, intent!
“Your body is woven from the light of Heaven. Are you aware that its purity and swiftness is the envy of Angels and it's courage keeps even the devils away?”
We believe the worst about ouija
We believe the worst about ouija because it’s easy. Hollywood and urban folk tales have filled our heads the potential evil this factory produced piece of particleboard can bring into your life. But rarely do any of the social media stories about spirit boards ever stop to consider the part of the ouija component is that is actually living and sentient. YOU!
It’s easy to believe the worst about ouija because many Americans come from an over-culture that teaches us that others have spiritual authority over us, that our spiritual hearts cannot be trusted to discern good for us or bad for us. There are ideas out there that certain books and certainly are always right to tell us how to be, think, and feel. Even more to the point, those certain books and people out there who I am referencing, are quick to tell us just how flawed, weak, and wrong you are for seeking meaning and truth beyond the borders they keep.
In my mind, this leads to a level of spiritual apathy. Go to a public building, listen to an authority tell us what we need to do and think about, do the ritual everyone is doing and you are good to go. It leads people to stop looking further than what is in front of their nose. But when something “strange” pops up in front of their nose, you don’t know what to do and think. It’s not in the book. It wasn’t in the sermon..or if it was, it was only in the context of this overarching evil, tempting us to be even more sinful than we all already are.
If you are trying to be the wonderful witchy person you know and feel you can be, you probably already have experienced the dissonance many monotheistic beliefs bring up when you begin to try and walk a new path. For me, this particular topic is one that really gets me going. Even after saying you are ready for something new, it’s hard to break the shackles of a former belief system that attempted to control your every thought and feeling.
When you’ve been taught for infancy to be fearful and suspicious of anything not in the book, because you’re so flawed you can’t possibly deal with spiritual strangeness without your one and only deity, well, what other explanation is there for why ouija seems so darn scary?
A lot of things are scary when you think about them
The funny part is, most of us think nothing was potentially more dangerous things like driving. For the most part, you aren’t worried about the car taking control of your life or feel weird about all the messages a car will give us. Cars aren’t instantly terrifying because you know you are the operator and owner of the car. It’s your responsibility to learn to drive and care for it.
Now I’m not saying there aren’t scary things out there in the spiritual universe. There are. And there are also scary things out there in the modern mundane world too.
When you are cruising down the interstate, radio tuned to your fav station, wind in your hair, you aren’t thinking about all the things that can go wrong (unless you have severe anxiety). Why?
Because you trust your equipment and you trust YOURSELF operating the equipment.
Hekate is my co-pilot
What would the long island medium do?
When you think about how a medium works, I can almost guarantee that images of Ouija board don’t usually factor in. Mediums are seen as different because it’s a gift or ability the person happens to have. As the Long Island Medium proves, a person with that talent can be the most normal person. If the Long Island Meduim can understand the spirit world and communicate with it, so can you. So can a rebellious teenager looking for a thrill.
Peeps who understand they have this kind of talent and choose to work with that talent understand they don’t actually need props or boards to speaks with Spirit. They just do it, like you call up a friend from another country and chat with them.
In a way, the spirit board is a great tool for those looking to developing a regular practice of tuning in and learning to communicate.
And it’s still like a car. You do need to develop certain skill sets before you go cruising down the road without a care. There aren’t any tests for mediumship like there is a driver’s test. Over time, as you keep going, you learn to trust yourself, your spiritual connection, and your ability to tune in.
As I leave off, it’s worth mentioning some of the essentials skills for anyone looking to develop their witchy Ouija board and mediumship practices.
Essential Skills to help spirit connection with or without a Ouija board
- Patience and Practice: your personal thoughts, or ego, sound very different than the voice spirits might use. Additionally, our unique connection to the Divine creates unique ways in which spirit is perceived. Learn your unique way and practice.
- Set your intentions so your session doesn't go astray. A good safe intention to start with is to connect with your guide, even if just to practice that deeper way of hearing/feeling/sensing.
- Learn how to set your boundaries. You are the one in control of a session. You say how it goes and when it will end. You dictate the tone and relationship you have with spirits.
- Nourish your objectivity, discernment, and common sense: Spirits can and will fuck with you, but that doesn't make them evil. Just like annoying, like a group of teenager cruising the main street looking to find a little excitement. Not every spirit is wise or all-knowing. And, not every spirit is exactly what you think they SHOULD be, according to wikipedia, the latest new age guru, or news stories. Be open to the whole of a spirit, so you can actually begin to glean the real reason for their connection to you.
