UNDER THE INFLUENCE
TRICK OR TREAT: ADULT EDITION
LOOKING BACK
OUI, JE OUIJA
It was the witching hour at my friend’s party a couple of weeks ago. We’ve all experienced it—that juncture late in the evening when guests either call it a night or decide to go all in. My hostess friend was prepared for just this moment. After retreating briefly into her bedroom, she emerged with a device familiar to most of us in the room: a ouija board. Oh, we were definitely all in. (It didn’t hurt that our party palette was kicking in as well…)
For the next two hours, we were fixed to the board, asking it questions about love, mortality, office squabbles, you name it. Heeding the suggestions of a fellow partier, we shut off our electronic devices, and experienced the remainder of the evening by candlelight. All the better for communing with the spirits, we were told.
Ouija has enjoyed a long tradition in the United States. A product of the American interest in spiritualism a century and a half ago, the board made its commercial debut around 1890. An early ad for the novelty billed it as “a link between the known and unknown, the material and the immaterial.” Its simple design featured an alphabet as well as short phrases; and in fact, the name “ouija” itself was a divination from the board.
During a ouija session, two or more people place their fingertips on the planchette. After the players invite a spirit and ask for its wisdom, the planchette seems to direct itself around the board to a series of letters, numbers, and phrases. What is revealed are insights that hover between mystery and gibberish; and sometimes, its predictions are eerily penetrative.
Whether it’s the collective unconscious of the people gathered, or a tool to reach into the beyond, ouija connects our minds with something greater than ourselves. Like tarot or tea leaves, it’s a medium for a momentary change in perspective, an opportunity to see our lives from another angle.
On this night of ghouls and glitter, what will you ask the spirits?
SWAY ON
