Almost everyone involved with magick and the occult has played on a Ouija board, or at least has seen one. In much of society, at least western cultures, the Ouija board carries with it very potent associations with obsession, madness, control, and deception. There is much skepticism and debate, both in the occult underground and society at large, about the nature, purpose, and value of these "talking" boards.
Regardless of your personal beliefs, unless those beliefs have you doing everything you can to avoid them, Ouija boards can be made into very powerful magical devices. With the right augmentations and associations, an industrious and skilled practitioner could turn a Ouija board into the equivalent of an occult laptop, capable of functioning as a portable ritual space, casting tool, astral gateway, and grimoire.
The Socio-Cultural Empowerment of Ouija Boards
While the history of Ouija boards is dubious at best, and is irrelevant to the creation of this magical device, what is important however, is the socio-cultural empowerment that the boards receive. Contemporary Ouija boards, to the best estimation, began as a parlor game, and were marketed as such by the board game industry. Like tarot cards before them, Ouija boards were powerful occult tools that became highly commercialized and sold to non-practitioners in high volumes. Again, like the divinations of tarot cards these boards could occasionally be used successfully by the ignorant, contacting entities of varying natures and opening gateways through which multiple levels of reality could merge.
Though for the most part these boards either did not function as advertised, were manipulated by the users subconsciously, or were the method in which the gullible were duped by a light-fingered charlatan. Despite all of the horror stories that came from misuse, the disappointment from failure to establish communication, and the predations of charlatans the Ouija boards are still in production today. Also, because of its colorful and notorious history, the Ouija board still commands the attention, opinions, and therefore energies of many people. Like thought-forms, deities, and ideas these boards gain power from their continued production, use, and infamy. With so many people being in contact with these boards, they have the potential to become powerful tools for the practitioner.
Ouija Boards as Magical Devices
The metaphor of an 'occult laptop' is being used as a visualization for the purpose of communicating the idea, though if the individual using the board finds another visualization to be more effective, by all means use that. The primary reasons for the laptop visualization is that the board lends itself to such a metaphor. The board is thin, lightweight, and portable, much like its mundane counterpart. Using the above spell protocol and occult machine techniques the board can be made into a multifunctional tool that can be used in much the same way as a laptop. The Ouija board can be given an onboard energy processor, be used to store spells or protocols, can be used to 'connect' to the subtle realms of reality, and is a tool that one can carry in a backpack or by hand without inconvenience.
Read also: Cultural impact of the Ouija board
A Portable Ritual Space
One of the features of the Ouija board is that it is a portable ritual space. Because of the occult associations held by conceptual reality, the Ouija board creates a magical field simply by existing. When a magus pulls out the board and places it herself she has not only created a magical field by using a Ouija board, there is the additional empowerment because the intention of the placement of the Ouija board was to create a ritual space. So there is not only the power of the intent of the magus, but the power of the board itself as dictated by consensual reality.
A Casting Tool
Another feature of the board is that it can be used as a casting tool. Like a wand, dagger, candle, or any other common casting tool, a Ouija board can be used as such. As when it is used as a portable ritual space, the associations held about the power of a Ouija board can provide a significant energy source when the board is used to help the caster focus for the casting of a spell. Imagine how disconcerting it might be to an opponent, or significant in the mind of the caster and thus empowering, to lay one hand on the Ouija board and point the other at the target.
A Gateway to Other Realities
The Ouija board can also be used for what it was intended, as a gateway to the other levels of reality, a portal into the greater multiverse and the subtle realms. While most people use the board in the popular style, by placing hands onto the planchette and allowing an entity to communicate with them through the board, there are other options available to the sorcerer should he or she choose. Depending upon the skill and ability of the practitioner to take and endure journeys of the consciousness into the subtle realms (astral travel), the board can be used in a much more invasive manner. Depending upon the particular technique the individual practitioner uses to gain access to the subtle realms, by employing the Ouija board into that routine the magus will gain the energy infusion from the power that the board carries with it in addition to the resonance the board already possesses as a gateway tool in pop-culture.
A Grimoire
In addition to being a ritual space, casting tool and gateway, the Ouija board can also be used as a grimoire. The magus can cast spells into the board, using it as a storage device. First the magus should cast the spell, then at the moment the spell is leaving the caster, target a specific point on the board, pushing your spell into the board itself. By choosing a specific location on the board, be it one of the letters, numbers, pictures, the yes or no, or the goodbye, the practitioner is able to trap the spell in progress. It should be mentioned at this point that the technique of managing the spell trajectory is very important, in that the spell hitting the board before the target is integral to the success of the spell storage. Once the spell is 'installed' onto the board, the practitioner can wait to use the spell at the most opportune moment. For example, an industrious magus may have several curses bound into the A, the 3, and the Goodbye. When the spells are needed, the magus 'activates' the spell through some personally relevant method (breathing onto the symbol, touching it with a finger, moving the planchette over it and saying a command word, etc), the spell in progress leaves it's stasis inside the board and continues on it path towards the target. In this way a sorcerer could conceivable carry an entire array of spells in progress that only need the touch of a symbol to activate, thus having the potential to cast a multitude of spells in a short amount of time given that the spells have already been cast, and only need to be released.
Another method of using the board as a grimoire or casting devise is to associate each character or image on the board with a particular spell or magical concept. Much like sigil magick, the sorcerer could then mix and match the characters on the board (most likely touching them or using the planchette to activate them in the desired order) to create and cast whatever spell that is desired. Or the magus could simply empower the board to manifest his or her will according to the letters and numbers highlighted by the planchette, simply spelling out what the magus desires, and empowering the board to focus the will to achieve the desired result. The author and some of his associates choose to what they call 'hotwire' their Ouija boards by placing stickers, painting, or drawing various sigils and magical symbols or phrases on the backs of their boards to further empower them on a personal level. This technique can also be used to setup wards to prevent other practitioners or entities from taking over the board and using it to their own ends.
Read also: Enigmatic Ouija Board
Psychological and Spiritual Risks
Many people believe in the power of the Ouija board and warn against playing with it because of the fear that users open themselves up to some supernatural threat. This worry is especially prevalent in horror films and television shows, where it has remained a stock scare element since the release of The Exorcist (Schmidt, 2025). On the other hand, plenty of people think of it as just a harmless game. This is how its producer and copyright holder, Hasbro, characterizes it (Hasbro, 2025).
Then there is the scientific perspective. If the naturalistic perspective is right, does that prove that Ouija boards are completely harmless? The answer is more complicated than one might think, but a new study sought to address this question. Before examining the results, itâs worth reviewing some Ouija board basics since these figure in the research design. Also called spirit boards, talking boards, or even witch boards, Ouija boards are a familiar fixture in popular culture, especially in scary movies and similar contexts. While many variations exist, most characteristics pertaining to the Ouija board are relatively standardized.
To use a Ouija board, the planchette is placed on the board, and two or more participants place their fingertips gently on the planchette. It is a common belief that the participants are not the ones who are moving the planchette during a session. Rather, it is supposed to be the spirits themselves who are using some form of spectral force to guide it in response to the seekerâs questions. Scientists, however, have naturalistic explanations for this phenomenon (see Vyse, 2024, for an overview). There is no science-based reason to think spirits exist, nor that they can contact the living through something like a Ouija board. However, that doesnât mean that using one canât be harmful. As the authors of the study point out, there is ample cause to believe that consulting a board can produce psychological harm.
To test this possibility, they conducted a quasi-experimental investigation with 84 volunteers. These sessions ran over a period of two years. These were conducted at Montserrat Mountain near Barcelona, a locale that the authors note is famous for its supernatural and miraculous legends. Moreover, participants met at night in front of an abandoned hotel that had previously been used as a hospital during the Spanish Civil War. These elements contrived to produce an atmosphere conducive to attempts at contacting the other side. Once situated, the participants were instructed to use a Ouija board to do just that.
Importantly, the researchers administered a questionnaire to the participants as well. This included a pretest just before the Ouija session as well as a post-test. The latter was administered no sooner than seven days after the session. This approach allowed the team to determine if any changes occurred in the participantsâ mental state after their Ouija board use.
Read also: Enigmatic Ouija Board
The findings showed that there were, in fact, changes in some subjects after they used the board. However, this was only noted in participants who said that they believed in the paranormal beforehand. They reported higher levels of anxiety, altered states of consciousness, and perception of anomalous phenomena. Nonbelievers experienced no such change.
Perhaps even more interesting is that the authors point out that there is a possibility of a feedback loop in the believing participantsâ minds. Not only did they report higher levels of these traits than nonbelievers, but they also demonstrated higher levels of them when comparing just the pretests. For example, believers demonstrated more anxiety than nonbelievers from the start, and the difference only grew following the Ouija board session. In this case, belief in the paranormal was accompanied by anxiety and fear, all of which conspire to make ambiguous games like the Ouija board seem like they are producing real, supernatural results. This experience, in turn, creates more fear and anxiety.
The results of the study suggest, not surprisingly, that simply using a Ouija board is perfectly safe. It is, after all, just some wood, cardboard, or plastic. However, belief in the boardâs powers and in supernatural entities is very real for some people. It is that belief itself, and not any external force or power, which creates changes in a believerâs psychological state and can even affect their mental well-being. As the authors point out, though, not all paranormal beliefs are as negative as those that commonly pertain to Ouija boards. Therefore, in some contexts, belief could yield emotionally helpful outcomes.
Consider the following table, which summarizes the psychological effects observed in believers versus non-believers after using a Ouija board:
| Psychological Effect | Believers | Non-Believers |
|---|---|---|
| Anxiety | Increased | No Change |
| Altered States of Consciousness | Increased | No Change |
| Perception of Anomalous Phenomena | Increased | No Change |
It is also important to consider the spiritual side effects. Even though it may seem harmless and is available for purchase at places like Walmart, it can have devastating spiritual side effects. The premise of the Ouija board is that a living person can communicate with a soul or spirit and the spirit will communicate back by spelling out answers on the board. Many children (and adults) will play this game, saying they donât âbelieveâ in it and think that one of their friends is playing a joke on them when the pieces move on the board. It is often viewed as a âspookyâ game to be played in a dimly lit room in the basement during a teenage sleepover.
On other occasions adults, unable to deal with the departure of a loved one, use the game in hopes of communicating with a deceased relative. While someone using the board may not have the intention of calling a demonic spirit, the act of using the Ouija board is a form of divination (discovering hidden knowledge through supernatural means) and is very real.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church clearly teaches against divination. To make an analogy, you may not âbelieveâ there is someone on the other end of the phone connection and may talk into it, thinking no one is listening, but the fact is that someone is listening and can communicate back. We too often forget that there is much more to this world than meets the eye. Angels, demons, spirits and souls do exist and they can have an impact on our life. It is simply not possible to use the Ouija board as a game, as the very action of using it has profound spiritual consequences beyond our control.
One example of how this game can invite an unwanted spiritual presence is the case of a 13-year-old boy who was introduced to the Ouija board in 1949. This boy became possessed by a demon and underwent a month-long exorcism by Father William Bowdern, SJ. These events inspired the 1971 book, The Exorcist, which was put on screen in 1973.
Unfortunately, this case is not isolated, and there have been countless others over the years. Exorcists have repeatedly warned against using Ouija boards, and explain how âdemons will masquerade as departed loved ones as a means of gaining possession.â Even paranormal investigators are leery about using them, knowing what kind of spirits can be invited into a personâs home.
Ouija boards are not innocent toys that can be played at Halloween parties.