Some people think of the Ouija board as a simple money-maker design inspired by the Ideomotor effect, while others believe it to be a medium between us and otherworldly spirits. The actual Ouija board itself basically consists of a flat ‘talking board’ and a teardrop-shaped planchette. The letters of the alphabet and the numbers from 0 to 9 are neatly arranged on the surface of the board, with a ‘yes’ and a ‘no’ in the uppermost corners, accompanied by the sun in the one, representing light, and a moon in the other, representing darkness. At the bottom of the board is the word “goodbye,’’ and in the middle, often a pentagram – representing the five elements. This, you probably knew. These 15 strange facts about the Ouija board below, however, I bet you do not.
The movie ‘The exorcist,’ stopped the nation-wide Ouija fad dead in its tracks, resulting in many people destroying their Ouija boards in fear.
The Exorcist
Image sources: 1, 2
In the 1973 film The exorcist, a 12-year old girl named Regan MacNeil becomes possessed by demons through a Ouija board. Since almost everyone in America had access to a Ouija board at the time and most had a history of playing it, the events portrayed in the film ignited a widely-spread fear of the ‘true’ nature of the Ouija board – labeling it a gateway to hell and a tool of the devil.
Even today, the board is still believed by some to be far from harmless, and that it’s is not a simple board game that marketers claim it to be. Needless to say, after the release of the film, many people destroyed their Ouija boards and sales plummeted. Even though the sales of these boards took a huge hit during the time, and subsequently developed a stigma, the controversy surrounding it drew in new buyers.(source)
The science behind the concept of the Ouija board is called the Ideomotor Effect. Ideomotor actions are unconscious and involuntary movements led by the subconscious.
Ideomotor effect ouija board
Image sources: 1,2
Though still relatively unknown to the larger population, the Ideomotor effect explains phenomena such as automatic writing, commanding a pendulum to swing in different directions, and the Ouija board. The results are caused by unconscious behavior, as in reflexive responses to ideas. A person might know the answer to a certain question that is being asked to a spirit through the Ouija board, and then move the planchette involuntarily, either alone or with others. The more people take part, the more likely the board gives consistent and believable answers. Whenever a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question is being asked, the same would happen, as your body might direct the planchette to an answer that you are subconsciously predicting, or know the answer of. ‘Ideomotor actions are unconscious, involuntary motor movements that are performed by a person because of prior expectations, suggestions or preconceptions.’ (John Jackson, 2005).(source)
Elijah Bond, the man who patented the Ouija board, has a Ouija Board tombstone that was erected in 2007 by Ouija board collector and historian Robert Murch.
The Ouija gravestone of Elijah Bond
Image source: atlasobscura
Lawyer and inventor, Elijah Bond, patented the Ouija board in 1891. Even though talking boards, or spirit boards as they were sometimes referred to, had been around for several years, Bond patented the design after proving its functionality to an apparently shocked patent officer. Bond then employed a man named William Fuld, who worked himself up in the company and whose name later became synonymous with the Ouija board. Unlike Fuld, Bond never received the recognition he deserved while he was alive, and was thus buried in an unmarked grave in Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland. It was only years later in 2007 that Robert Murch, a Ouija board collector and Historian, located the unmarked grave and decided to pay tribute to Bond’s invention by erecting a Ouija board gravestone in his name.(source)
Ouija board marketer William Fuld fell to his death while supervising the construction of a three-story Ouija board factory in Baltimore.
William Fuld's death
Image source: williamfuld
In 1917, after consulting the Ouija board which he had marketed and sold for over a decade, William Fuld built a three-story, thirty-six thousand square foot factory in Baltimore. According to Fuld, a spirit communicated with him through a Ouija board earlier that year, telling him to “prepare for big business.” During the construction of this enormous building, which was unlike any other in the area at the time, Fuld fell from the roof of his factory breaking several bones and suffering of a severe concussion. He died later that day in a nearby hospital after one of his broken ribs pierced his heart.(source)
- Stephen Young, a convicted murderer and insurance broker, was granted a retrial for the murder of Harry and Nicola Fuller. The retrial was granted after information had emerged that four of the members of the jury that convicted him, consulted a Ouija board before coming to a final decision.
Ouija board with planchette on yes
Image source: blumhouse
Stephen Young, a 35-year old insurance broker and convicted murder, won the right to a retrial in October 1994 for the murder of newlyweds Harry and Nicola Fuller. It was brought to the court by Young’s lawyer that four members of the original jury consulted a Ouija board during their stay at a hotel the night before the final verdict. Later that year, during the retrial, a fresh Jury found Young guilty of the double murder, for which he was sentenced to two life sentences in prison.(source)
- On his death bed, Ouija board manufacturer William Fuld uttered the words ‘never sell the Ouija board,’ to his children.
William Fuld family photo
Image source: williamfuld
William Fuld, a man who’s best known for the marketing and manufacturing of Ouija boards since the 1890s, died after falling from a newly erected Ouija board factory in Baltimore, USA. Fuld is said to have blamed his death on a spirit he channeled through his Ouija board, who consulted him to ‘prepare for big business.’ Fuld was then rushed to hospital after breaking several bones in his body. He died later that same day from a punctured heart. While lying on his deathbed, Fuld made his children promise to never take part in the selling of Ouija boards, since he believed it to have played a supernatural role in his death.(source)
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