15 Strange Facts That You Definitely Don’t Know About The Ouija Board
11 Even though many theories claim to know the origin of talking boards, so far none of them has been able to provide proof. As a result, the true origin of the talking board remains a mystery.
Arguably, the Ouija board is a modern divination object that first came into being through spiritualism in the 1940s. However, most historians would argue that the basic concept of the Ouija board is merely another form of automatic writing, both of which are caused by the ideomotor effect.
Even though Elijah Bond was awarded a patent for the Ouija board in 1891, the true history and origin of the concept are still unclear, and even widely misunderstood. With automatic writing, a subject can automatically write down subconscious thoughts in his/her own handwriting. The act of writing automatically is said to take a lot of practice and quite hard to accomplish.
Many mediums have claimed in the past that these words they penned down were the words of supernatural beings communicating through them when in reality it’s just a representation of their own subconscious thoughts.
The true origins of automatic writing devices like the talking board are still unclear, and even though there are sources claiming otherwise, it’s often outdated or lack of proof. Some of these sources have linked Ouija boards to ancient Chinese writing devices, and others to Pythagoras, who is said to have introduced similar talking boards in 540 BC. But, neither one of these theories, unfortunately, have the evidence to back it up.(source)
12 A great number of deaths and murders have been blamed on Ouija boards. Many of them were because of the 1962 portrayal of a haunted Ouija board in the film The exorcist.
Strange tales have been published in American newspapers over the decades connecting the Ouija boards to countless deaths. Before the release of the film The exorcist in 1963, the Ouija board was considered innocent, for the most part, and seen as a game. The film’s first screening, however, resulted in a spike of fear throughout America, as the filmmakers claim that the story is based on true events, and thus making anyone that had used a Ouija board open to demonic possession.
Even though most of these deaths and murders only occurred after the screening of the film, some cases that happened before the film also came to light. One such case is that of 15-year old Mattie Turley, who on November 8, 1933, shot her own father in the back while he was working on the farm. Mattie’s mother, Dorothy Irene Turley, is said to have been playing with a Ouija board when it spelled out a message to Mattie, instructing her to kill her father, and thereby freeing Dorothy to marry a cowboy, whom she was in love with at the time.(source)
13 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.
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)
14 On his death bed, Ouija board manufacturer William Fuld uttered the words ‘never sell the Ouija board,’ to his children.
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)
15 Ouija board sales went up by 300% in 2014 thanks to a low-budget Hollywood film titled Ouija.
Despite the multiple warnings from different religious organizations, the sales of the modern Ouija board skyrocket during December 2014. The controversial board game that had people of all ages mesmerized for over 120 years made a comeback in 2014 due to the screening of a low-budget Hollywood movie with the same title. According to various sources, Ouija board sales are mostly influenced by the state of a nation and the mention of Ouija boards in films.(source)
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