APRIL 5th, 2015
By LANA CARBON
When I (Lana) was 10 years old, I had my first experience with the Ouija Board phenomenon. There I was at school with about 5 of my friends creating a handcrafted, makeshift board out of scrap paper, a pen and a plastic cup. As rough as our creation turned out, it seemed to work. As soon as our teacher found out what we were doing however, she made us throw out our board and promise not to do “bad things like that” at school ever again. Not wanting to get into trouble, I never did…well not at that school at least.
Despite retaining an interest, it would be 6 or 7 years before I would use another Ouija (this time of the store bought variety). It is the typical story of young people fooling around with things they didn’t understand and not taking the situation seriously. I understood then why it could garner a bad reputation but I was still under the belief that not everything about the Ouija was negative. I was learning then that the majority of people fear what they don’t understand.
I bought my own board and used it with various partners on and off for the next couple years but never seriously as I felt it was basically just a game even to the point of misusing it horribly as I have explained in our Halloween post. After that, I took it much more seriously and perhaps that is why my usage had become much more sporadic. After meeting John, and respecting her concerns over the whole topic, I have put the board away for now and left it at my parents’ house when I moved in with her.
It had been a while since I had even thought about the Ouija but then I heard Patrick Keller from my favourite podcast (The Big Séance) interview Karen A. Dahlman. The discussion was fascinating and I knew I had to read her new book. I purchased a copy of The Spirits of Ouija: Four Decades of Communication. Karen was even kind enough to sign the copy she sent.
The book tells many positive tales of communications that took place over the years using the board (sometimes even blindfolded) with various partners in life changing ways. Through detailing not only her life affirming experiences, some of the spirits with whom she communicates and affects these sessions have had on those who attend, the author also expresses the how-tos of achieving positive discussions of your own. What are these secrets? Well the one that spoke most to me was that we receive what energies we put out. Like calls to like. So if we clear our negativity and be serious and respectful, should we not be more apt to receive the same in return? After all, whether you are dealing with the living, the dead or those who were never human to begin with, shouldn’t all be treated with respect?
The book kept me enthralled and wanting more when it was finished. I would certainly recommend it to anyone who has ever been interested but afraid to try considering the bad reputation that the Ouija receives. I know it has me wanting to dust off the old board.
Most importantly, I believe once she reads it, John will dismiss some of her concerns about the Ouija and give it a try. Only time will tell.
You can order Karen’s books at her website www.creativevisionspublications.com, on Amazon or find her on Twitter @KarenADahlman
