Gracen's Ouija Hell

Hi, everyone! *waves* I hope everyone has had a wonderful week. Mine has been eventful, but I won’t go into it. That is not the topic.

Ouija…that is the topic. May I have a show of hands how many have participated in a Ouija séance? Unfortunately, I have.

I was sixteen and my best friend, Angie, and I decided to try out her new Ouija board. It was a novelty and I don’t know that either of us really thought it would work.

She came to my house. We turned off the lights, lit candles and placed the board between us on the floor. Obviously, we had seen too many horror movies. *wink* But we wanted the mood set just right.

We put our hands on the plastic locater, what I have heard called a planchette, although the spelling may be completely off. I think our first question was, “Is anyone here with us?” It began to move slowly at first, almost dragging to the word “yes”. We both yanked our hands off the planchette and asked if the other had moved it. Both of us denied moving it.

We had two spirits we chatted with. One claimed to be a servant of God and claimed to love us…in retrospect it was a stalkerish kind of love though, nothing healthy. His name was Drake (names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent). The second one was Jason (again names have been changed to protect the evil and because I do not want to give him power by saying his name—I truly believe he was evil or demonic) and he admitted to being an axe murderer. Jason wanted us to die. Sometimes he would spell the word “d-i-e” over and over again until we just ditched the Witchboard all together to shut him up. All he ever did was spew evil and filth. He had a son named Nate. We finally had to have a secret code with Drake to make sure we had the so-called good spirit instead of the evil spirit. In reflection, the moment Jason arrived we should have tossed the Witchboard straight into the garbage, but we did not. Being teenagers, we didn’t have the good sense to realize we were playing with fire. We were fascinated by the paranormal also, so I think this helped lure us into the Witchboard’s web of deceit.

I became obsessed with it. I’m quite serious. I’m not sure that Angie ever knew how obsessed I was with it. I’m not sure about Angie, how she really felt, but every weekend was spent on the Witchboard. Sometimes we would meet in the park and talk with the spirits.

I had a cousin that came from the West Coast. Her name was Shawna. She was younger than me by a few years, but I was determined to introduce her to the Witchboard and its fascination. The first night we got on the board, Shawna yanked her fingers off after a few minutes and said the planchette had burned her fingers. Now, I was thinking this was drama at its finest. So, I begged her to try it again. My motives were selfish. She was very hesitant and did not want to get back on it. Certainly that should have told me something, but I ignored her needs because I felt like I needed to be on that board. Like I said, I was obsessed with it. It was driving me crazy not being able to talk to Drake. Finally, after hassling her until she gave in, she got on the Ouija with me a second time. Again she said it burned her fingers. But this time, she was acting funny afterward. I SWEAR her eyes turned a dark color, almost black and her voice was somehow different, deeper, with a raspy scratch to it. It freaked me out, but not as much as her grabbing a teddy bear and singing a lullaby to it—“Hush little baby, don’t say a word…”—while she petted it.

It was creepy.

I remember sitting there staring at her not sure how to process what she was doing. We were both way beyond the years of baby dolls.

When I asked her what she was doing, she gave me this look that said she wanted to rip my heart out while informing me that she was singing to her son. I tried to explain it was just a teddy bear, but she insisted it was her son. I gave up because she was spooking me so bad. I talked her into going to bed, but she refused to give up her “son” the teddy bear. The next morning, she remembered none of it, other than the burned fingers.

So, I could not leave it alone. I’m telling you, I was obsessed with this Witchboard. I was definitely under its spell.

I dragged Shawna to Angie’s house and told her what Shawna had done the night before. We got Shawna back on the board and again the same thing happened, only this time, the planchette flew across the room. When I went to pick it up, Shawna started cackling and her foot was bouncing up and down very agitated. She caught sight of a teddy bear Angie slept with and she clutched it to her and started singing to it like the night before. Angie and I shared a glance. My eyes were saying, “see!” Hers were still pondering the validity of what was happening. Shawna’s eyes were full of hatred and vehemence. The very presence in the room was dark and ominous. I know that sounds dramatic, but it is true. So, Angie asked who the teddy bear was. Shawna informed us it was her son. When Angie asked her what her son’s name was, Shawna said it was Nate.

Oh…my…God!

I still get chills thinking about it. That was Jason’s son’s name. We had not told her Jason had a son, much less told her his name.

When Shawna became herself again, she flopped onto the bed and started crying. All she could remember from the event was being in a black void, with a pinpoint of white light that she kept struggling to get to.

Now, as an adult, I question the validity of everything that happened those two days. Was Shawna playacting? Was everything valid? I know a few things for certain…Shawna changed, her eyes changed, her voice changed, her demeanor changed, there was hate reflected in her eyes and she knew things we had never told her. It was that defining moment that had us pushing the Ouija out of our lives. One thing that lingers in my head…if Shawna had become possessed—even temporarily—by Jason, then I had slept beside a professed axe murderer that first night.

In the end, Angie and I have come to believe Drake and Jason were the same spirit toying with us. It lied to us, but it also told us things that came true. But I also think it is a doorway to a world that should not be tapped without the right knowledge. We did not have that knowledge. Still don’t. And I’ll admit, I sometimes still wonder what would happen if I got back on it? That one thought terrifies me. It gives me chills. It still has sway over me after almost twenty years, even though I haven’t given into it and given it any more control.

Believe me or not, it does not matter to me. I know what happened and I can easily remember how I felt…the terror, the fright, and the knowledge that we were way over our heads. I truly felt like we were being sucked into some dark void of no return and it was so strangely alluring, even as frightening as it all was. No question, I do NOT want my sons touching one of those hellish so-called “games”.

So, tell me what you think. Are you a believer? Did you participate in a Witchboard? If so, what was your experience?

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend!