This might sound totally ridiculous, but I’m going to be hanging out at a friends house in a couple of days, and they want to use a ouija board. Is it really a bad idea to use one? Is it a mortal sin? And, lastly, can you really get posessed if you use one?
My mom is adamant on saying that they’re evil, but my dad just laughs and says it’s simply a game. What do you all think?
This is a controversial topic whether you’re for or against it.
Spiritualism was a 19th century movement that was largely debunked by people such as Harry Houdini, the great and famous stage magician. It has pretty much fallen out of favor even in occult circles… That being said, I recall a Tarot reader telling me once she would never consult a ouija board. It would be like going out on a street corner the worst part of town and asking random people the answer to your question. Basically, it attracts earthbound/unenlightened spirits who may give you an honest answer - question is whether you want to consider the source.
There are all kinds of horror stories around someone picking up a Tarot deck, a pendulum or a ouija board and their life going south. All of these stories are (probably) true but there are just as many people who do these things and nothing bad ever happens to them. It’s just that “squeaky wheels get greased…”
Now, should a Catholic try these things? The Church says, “No”. What do you want to do with that information? Many Catholics use birth control, consult the astrology forecast in the newspaper, let their children have “sex education” in a public school; people have pre-marital sex and many other such things that are against the magisterium. Why are so many people bothered in conscience about a select few things but not others? I find this issue more fascinating than whether you should use a ouija board.
Personally, I think these things have only as much power as we are willing to give them. It’s like St. Paul’s advice about eating meat sacrificed to idols. He avoided it so as not to hurt others but he knew there was nothing in an idol that could hurt him.
Years ago I was in a game store and saw “The Ouija Board” - opened it up; it had the planchette and board glowed in the dark. It looked funky cool, so I made a digital scan and had it mounted and hung it in my bedroom. That was eight or nine years ago. No strings of terrible misfortune have yet to happen. I’ve never tried the board myself. I’m a little gun shy let’s say. But if a group of friends asked me to try it at a party with them… I dunno. Maybe. So far no one has asked.
On the other hand… If someone could really - I mean REALLY - tell/warn me that something bad was going to happen, would I really want to know about it? If someone knew the date and time of my death, would I really want to know that information? What would my life be like if I could know this? The answer may vary from person to person - if I already knew I was dying, I might want to know the date so I could make preparations. But if I’m healthy in the prime of life and someone told me I was going to die in a year… How would I live my life? How would you live yours? Same for any other life changing situation. Do you really want to know what’s going to happen to you? Maybe if the news were good, but what if it was bad news? Would you really want to know?
In the end, the ouija board may be a complete and total fraud - a parlor trick (one of the many that Houdini debunked). There is something scientists have discovered called the ideometer effect. Pendulums, dowsing rods and ouija may all work because of this. There is nothing demonic about it. It’s simply the power of suggestion. In other words: BOO! The joke’s on you.
My Advice: If the idea of it bothers you, then don’t do it. If it doesn’t bother you, why do you want to try it? And if you try it, how do you feel afterwards? Ask your priest what he thinks about it. Discern it. Keep in mind that scientist pretty much think these things are a fraud. There is no statistical evidence that they work.
They are only dangerous if you allow it. They are only evil by the intent of the user. It is not wise however to tempt the devil to enter your life.
Believing in such rubbish gives the devil the power not the rubbish itself