Generations of teenagers have huddled over a homemade Ouija board, attempting to call the spirits of celebrities, or to answer the question of whether they’ll find love. The board is an important part of the 1970s film The Exorcist. (Watch that clip if you feel like starting your weekend creeped out.)
The Smithsonian has looked at the history of the Ouija board, from its early days in the late 1800’s to now.
Contrary to popular belief, “Ouija” is not a combination of the French for “yes,” oui, and the German ja. Murch says, based on his research, it was Bond’s sister-in-law, Helen Peters (who was, Bond said, a “strong medium”), who supplied the now instantly recognisable handle. Sitting around the table, they asked the board what they should call it; the name “Ouija” came through and, when they asked what that meant, the board replied, “Good luck.” Eerie and cryptic—but for the fact that Peters acknowledged that she was wearing a locket bearing the picture of a woman, the name “Ouija” above her head.
Protip: It’s (probably) not ghosts making the board work, but the effect that causes it is pretty fascinating.
Ouija boards work on a principle known to those studying the mind for more than 160 years: the ideometer effect. In 1852, physician and physiologist William Benjamin Carpenter published a report for the Royal Institution of Great Britain, examining these automatic muscular movements that take place without the conscious will or volition of the individual (think crying in reaction to a sad film, for example).
Disappointing, but interesting.
Photo: Unknown
