2/9/2024: Turning Tables & Ouija Boards & Spirtualism, Oh My!

It is 11:00 p.m. on a summer night in 2018. Bored with nothing better to do, my friends and I gathered around an Ouija board in the basement. While I cannot remember what questions we asked the board, I can only imagine they were something along the lines of “Who will ask me to the homecoming dance” or “Which one of us will be rich one day.” Only asking the important things, of course. Though I have not encountered an Ouija board since that night, I remain skeptical of this commercialized practice and doubt that it holds much validity. However, despite my skepticism, I do believe that it is possible, in one way or another, to communicate with spirits and the souls of lost ones. Perhaps I was just using the Ouija board wrong. 

Learning about spiritualism in this week’s reading of A History Of Magic, Witchcraft, And The Occult has sparked my curiosity and prompted me to take a deep dive into the origins and psychology behind Ouija. Where did this come from? How does it work? Let’s dive in.

The text explains that from the mid-19th century onwards the practice of spiritualism turned into a craze across the world (224). Rooted in the Christian belief in the afterlife, spiritualism allowed people to communicate with deceased people in the “spirit world,” thus offering a consoling chance for grieving people to speak with their loved ones. Spiritualism especially grew during the Civil War, as millions of bereaved people sought to speak with fallen soldiers who were victims of the bloody war. During this time, Abraham Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd, even used spiritualism to find comfort after the loss of her son. While spiritualism initially seemed a bit crazy to me, it makes much more sense after putting it into the perspective of this time. With almost an entire generation of men wiped out from a brutal war, I can understand the desire to gain closure and make sure your loved ones are okay in the spiritual world. I probably would have done the same if I were alive during this time. 

This period gave rise to many interesting spiritualistic practices, one of which being table-turning. Table-turning was all the rage. People would sit with their hands on a table, which “would seemingly tilt, rise, or rotate as a means of communication from spirits of the departed” (229). For example, a spiritual message may be decoded by a medium saying letters of the alphabet and the table moving after specific letters. This certainly sounds like the Ouija board’s predecessor to me! 

It turns out that spirit writing, known as Fuji, actually dates back 1500 years to China, where a suspended stick would write out Chinese characters in ash (230). With spiritualism becoming widely popular after the Civil War, the Kennard Novelty Company launched the Ouija board in 1891. While Ouija was initially viewed as a form of family entertainment, its use in The Exorcist in 1973 shifted public perceptions to view the board as a terrifying, devilish tool (230). Learning about this shift is interesting to me because for as long as I can remember, Ouija boards were a scary, demonic item– my parents would not even let me bring one into our house! It is interesting to think about how Ouija was once seen as a family-friendly activity or a legitimate way to communicate with lost loved ones. This shows me just how powerful movies and media can be in shaping and cementing public perceptions. 

But really, how does this all work? After going down the YouTube rabbit hole of table-turning and Ouija board videos, I cannot help but wonder if there is some science or spiritual power behind these practices. Certainly, these people aren’t faking everything, right? 

Well, ever since the mid-19th century start of the spiritualism craze, scientists and psychologists have been able to explain this phenomenon with the ideomotor effect. According to this effect, simply thinking about a certain kind of motion causes involuntary physical responses that bring that motion to life, without individuals making any conscious choice to move. Ideomotor actions are unconscious, involuntary movements that stem from prior expectations, suggestions, or preconceptions. By imagining a certain action, the relevant motor areas in our brain and spinal cord are primed; so, if we then relax our conscious/deliberate control and allow a movement to occur reflexively, the pre-primed motor signals force an unconscious physical response. How cool! I am absolutely fascinated by the power of our subconscious. 

Through this deep dive, I have set my skepticism aside and gained a better understanding of the power, purpose, and practices of spiritualism. While we may not label it as such, I think there are many forms of spiritualism that we all have partaken in at some point. Whether it be through prayer, visiting a grave site, meditation, or even table-turning, we seek to feel the presence of deceased loved ones and gain spiritual guidance, especially during times of grief and uncertainty. In this way, perhaps Ouija boards are not so silly and senseless after all… there is a reason they have stuck around in our basements for over a century!