The Ouija Board Scam

Scams, lies, and fakes are nothing new—they have been around for centuries. An example is the Ouija board, which dates back to the early 1800s. Originally a parlor game, the “ouija” name was an amalgamation of “oui” and “ja” from the French and German words for “yes.” Today, you can buy a Ouija board from Walmart for $19.99. The Ouija board scam uses well-known psychological principles to do interesting things that depend on the human mind.

The Ouija board originated when life expectancy was very short compared to today. Almost a third of children did not live to see their fifth birthday. When the Civil War erupted in 1861, everyone was touched by the loss of a loved one. Many people wanted to communicate with their dead relatives, resulting in seances, disembodied voices, automatic writing, and other scams involving communicating with a loved one in the spirit world. In 1891, Elijah J. Bond received a patent for a “talking board,” which he sold to William Fudd, who made a fortune selling them.

The Ouija board scam is an example of automatism, doing something without feeling we are doing it. People have used automatism in hypnosis, dowsing, automatic writing, and many fake psychic events. Those of us who have been around for a while have seen things like this repeated over and over. Who can forget “Clever Hans,” the horse who could do complex mathematical calculations? It turned out to be a function of the mind of his owner, a mathematician, who could transmit commands to the horse by subtle physical gestures.

Another scam is religious spiritualism, in which a preacher claims to have special powers coming from God. Religious scams have also gone on for a very long time. In 1 Samuel 28:3-14 Saul went to a woman known as the witch of Endor and asked her to contact Samuel, who had died. Witchcraft was outlawed in Israel then, so the woman was reluctant to conduct a séance. When she did the scam séance, the real Samuel appeared through a miracle from God. The witch was shocked and screamed, obviously surprised because she had a scam going, and the real thing appeared.

The Bible presents a rational, accurate description of the normal process of human affairs. Miracles are identified as such and cannot, by definition, be proven. Jesus offered evidence through miracles during His physical time on Earth. Religious leaders today claiming the ability to perform miracles are like the Witch of Endor or the Ouija board scam.

— John N. Clayton © 2024
Reference: smithsonianmag.com