Results of a Parlor Game

Persons merely curious about the occult are often lured into active involvement by means of allegedly harmless items such as Ouija boards. The familiar boards are advertised and sold as a harmless parlor game. There is no question that the boards make a lot of money for the manufacturer​—but are they harmless? A lot of people don’t think so.

A popular Canadian singer tried to commit suicide several times after being invited by her board to “come to our side.” A lonely Alberta woman was advised that she would meet ‘the man of her dreams’ at a Calgary night spot. She was beaten and raped instead. Just last year in Miami, Florida, mass hysteria broke out when young students playing with a Ouija board claimed they were possessed by demons. “The whole school went berserk,” said a police officer. Students kicked holes in walls and tore a door off its hinges. According to a teacher, “There were girls crying and screaming that there was a spirit inside (the Ouija board).”

Clearly, persons lured into using a Ouija board as a ‘harmless parlor game’ are often not prepared for what may happen to them. Their fascination with the occult produces results all right, but are they results that you would want?

Missed Loved Ones?

Many persons first turn to the occult in an effort to contact dead loved ones. The North Carolina witch made her prediction at a séance in which the family attempted to contact their dead son-in-law. The result was tragedy.

In other cases the “dead relative” seems to speak through the medium, giving convincing evidence of his identity. Yet often the personality of the spirit contacted is vengeful or capricious. One researcher into Ouija boards characterized the personalities contacted as “characteristically sadistic and psychopathic.” Why would relatives who were loving in life become cruel in death? Could the spirits claiming to be departed loved ones be impostors?

A Canadian couple got caught up in an occult group, only to flee in terror at the changed personalities and evil in the members. “Anyone who thinks they’re going to play around with witchcraft​—they’re playing with dynamite,” they said.

Even if they had doubts before, those who get involved in the occult become convinced that superhuman forces are involved. But, having done so, many feel that they have been snared in an evil web.