From parlor game to portal into hellīy the 20th century, Spiritualism’s popularity had begun to wane, partly due to the work of frauds. Eerily, he died in 1927 when he fell from the roof of a factory he claimed the board had instructed him to build. Fuld made a fortune on the Ouija board and opened several new factories. ![]() Helen Peters, a sister-in-law of one of the company’s founders, asked the board what it should be named and received the cryptic answer “Ouija.” In 1882, William Fuld became supervisor of the company. The design that most Americans know today was patented by the Kennard Novelty Company in 1891. There were numerous models of these “talking boards.” Brandon Hodge is the foremost historian of these automatic writing devices, with a private collection of over 200 planchettes, as well as talking boards and other séance apparatus. The pencils were discarded and the planchette was paired with a board with the alphabet written on it. Wikimedia Commonsīy 1886, Spiritualists had developed the planchette further. The basket evolved into a device called a planchette (from the French planche, meaning board).Īn 1853 song titled ‘Spirit Rappings’ sought to capitalize on the growing popularity of Spiritualism in the 19th century. This allowed everyone to place their hands on the basket to help the spirits guide the pencil across the paper. French Spiritualist Allan Kardec reported that during an 1853 séance (literally “a sitting” or session talking to spirits), the spirits suggested that the participants stick a pencil through an upside-down basket. Some mediums engaged in “automatic writing.” The medium would enter a trance state and allow the spirits to guide their hand as they wrote messages (a phenomenon that’s also featured in the film). This labored method created a demand for more efficient ways of communicating with the dead. Early Spiritualists engaged in a practice called “ alphabet calling,” in which someone rattled off the alphabet until the spirit rapped to indicate a specific letter. In their heyday, the Spiritualists developed numerous techniques and devices for talking to the dead. Spiritualists also supported progressive causes, including abolition, temperance and women’s suffrage. Spiritualist writer Andrew Jackson Davis even challenged the very idea of hell, asserting that all spirits can enter a blissful “Summerland” in the afterlife. But Spiritualists were rarely dark or morbid. Wikimedia Commonsįrom the start, Christian critics claimed Spiritualism was just thinly disguised witchcraft. With no apparent source, the raps were attributed to spirits, and they appeared to respond to the sisters’ questions.įrom the start, Christians tried to equate Spiritualism with witchcraft. No one could discern where the raps were coming from, and they manifested in other houses the sisters visited. The Spiritualist movement is often said to have begun in Hydesville, New York, in 1848, when two sisters, Kate and Maggie Fox, reported hearing a series of mysterious raps in their tiny home. As Spiritualism’s popularity waned, the Ouija board emerged as a popular parlor game it was only in the 20th century that the Catholic Church and the horror movie industry rebranded the game as a doorway to the demonic. In fact, the Ouija board developed out of Spiritualism, a 19th-century movement known for its optimistic views about the future and the afterlife. The Ouija board, however, didn’t always have this sinister reputation. The family business is relatively harmless until the youngest daughter discovers an old Ouija board, attempts to contact her deceased father and instead becomes possessed by evil spirits. ![]() Director Mike Flanagan furthers this trope in his new film “ Ouija: Origin of Evil.” Set in 1967, a widow and her daughters earn a living scamming clients seeking to contact dead loved ones. By now, most have vague notions of the Ouija board horror narrative, in which demonic spirits communicate with – even possess – kids.
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