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When Sr. Jean found out that I and a bunch of my grade school classmates had played with a Ouija Board, she flipped her cork, figuratively speaking. Her eyes flew open wide and her eyebrows shot up – a look of alarm sprang across her face.
“You have no idea what you’ve done,” she said. “You must never do that again, and you must tell your friends never to do it again, either.”
I thought Sr. Jean was over-reacting. “What’s so bad about Ouija Boards?” I asked. “It’s just a silly game.”
Sr. Jean explained to me that Ouija Boards are much more than a silly game – they’re a grave danger to the souls of anyone who messes with them. “You’re not calling upon the souls of departed relatives,” she said. “You’re opening yourselves to evil spirits. “
I trusted Sr. Jean’s wisdom and knew she wasn’t the superstitious type. If she said Ouija Boards can conjure up evil spirits, I believed her. That was the end of Ouija Boards for me.
I see now that history is repeating itself. What was a fad during late 60s and early 70s has come around again and is being scarfed up by a new generation of unwitting young people. It was escalated by the October 24, 2014 release of the film, “Ouija,” which, with a gross of $20 million its opening weekend, was a box office winner.The film, labeled a “supernatural fantasy,” is about the circumstances of a girl’s death. She’d been mysteriously killed after recording herself playing with an ancient Ouija Board. The story continues with her friends’ investigation of the board, and the horrors that ensued.
This Christmas, Ouija is on the minds of innocent young people, but not the movie. It’s the Ouija Board, and it’s got those in the know more than alarmed. It’s got them terrified.
According to a Google report, the Ouija Board is number five in the Top Trending Toys on Google. Google also reported that online searches for the “board game” are up 300 per cent since the film’s release.
The irony is that the Ouija Board is lined up with other toys like American Girl, My Little Pony, Paw Patrol, Lego Friends, Peppa Pig, Shopkins, Nerf Guns, and Zoomer Dino. All of the other contenders for top Christmas toy of the 2014 season are innocent, and aimed at a very young audience. To see Ouija Board listed right along the side of them – or, rather, right in the middle of them – should make us terrified, too.
The Ouija Board isn’t a silly game or a innocent toy; it’s a dangerous instrument of the occult.
A priest-exorcist, in an interview with Ireland’s Independent, warned shoppers that, once you open yourself to evil spirits, it’s very difficult to get rid of them.
“It’s like going to some parts of Africa and saying I’m personally immune to Ebola. But it does leave people open to all kinds of spiritual dangers. People don’t intend any spiritual harm by it, but we live in a spiritual realm and you have no way to control what may impinge on you,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Clergy from other denominations have voiced warnings against Ouija Boards as well.
“It’s like opening a shutter in one’s soul and letting in the supernatural. There are spiritual realities out there and they can be very negative,” said Peter Irwin-Clark, a Church of England vicar, in an interview with MailOnline.com. Irwin-Clark has witnessed the dark side of Ouija first-hand.
I’ve been told the same personally from a number of priests and an exorcist that I know. The occult is real, and it’s a real danger to our souls. It’s not a game, not a trend, and it certainly is not a toy that anybody – regardless of age – should be playing with, even though Hasbro, maker of the Ouija Board, would have you think otherwise.
Read more:
What happened when the author of ‘The Exorcist’ played with a Ouija board
Parents, be savvy this Christmas. Understand for yourselves the dangers of Ouija Boards, and then help your children to understand. Don’t buy them one for Christmas, no matter how desperately they beg, and don’t let them “play” Ouija with friends.
This is serious business. Parent’s if you truly love your children, protect them from Ouija Boards. At Christmas, we should be celebrating the saving of our souls by the Redeemer, not risking their loss by the occult. It isn’t just a silly game.
Marge Fenelon is a Catholic author, columnist, and speaker and a regular guest on Catholic radio. She’s written several books about Marian devotion and Catholic family life, includingStrengthening Your Family: a Catholic Approach to Holiness at Home and Imitating Mary: Ten Marian Virtues for the Modern Mom . Find out more about Marge at www.margefenelon.com. This article was originally published on Aleteia.org on April 12, 2014.
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